A group of social service students were disheartened with the lack of participation at their movie showing and table event received for the charity, Capital Rainbow Refuge, on March 14.
There was a photo booth, guess the jelly bean game and the documentary Last Chance playing in CA-building. The movie was an education documentary showcasing five asylum seekers who fled their native country due to homophobic violence and their struggle to acquire refugee status.
However, not a single person went to go see the movie and only a few people even approached the table after over an hour of being set up – even after moving the table to an area with more student traffic.
The Capital Rainbow Refuge is an Ottawa-only organization that supports LGBTQ+ refugees who have been persecuted from their countries and are forced to gain refugee status to escape homophobic violence. Currently, there are 84 countries around the globe involved in this issue with eight of them implementing the death penalty.
The reasons behind the lack of participation may be related to advertising support.
“It was hard to get the posters out. The process takes a long time because the SA has to approve it, which can take up to a week,” said Shannon Ball, a social service student and one of the members who organized this charity fundraiser.
Not only was the SA a lack of help to advertise for this event, she said, the Pride Centre had a lack of involvement.
“We tried really hard to contact the college’s Pride Centre,” Ball said. “I’ve sent them multiple emails and then just on the day of the event they got back to me and said they’d share it on their Facebook page.”
With the lack of advertisement and a poor location to have the event, the fundraising team had a hard time getting the attention or participation of passers-by.
“I feel like this event would have been more successful if we were in a different building closer to the student commons,” said Madisen Thomson a member who also organized the fundraiser.
“We wish it was an easier process to get a room, because if we can get a room sooner, then SA can promote it sooner,” added Jacob Goldrosen, another member of the fundraiser.
However, these students’ efforts haven’t been a lost cause. A GoFundMe page they created raised over $500 for the charity, while a separate fundraiser they organized earlier in the year brought their efforts to over $600 in total revenue.