SFU Beedie students raise nearly $20,000 for Canadian Cancer Society
Jan 15, 2020
Students in Kamal Masri’s BUS 361 Project Management course, who raised nearly $20,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society
A group of SFU Beedie students raised $19,733 for the Canadian Cancer Society last semester, in an initiative run as part of a project management class at the school.
Students enrolled in the Bus 361 Project Management class, taught by Beedie lecturer Dr. Kamal Masri, raised the funds through the 25toLife initiative, a joint project between the class and the Canadian Cancer Society. This is the sixth year that Masri has run the project in the fall semester of his project management class, raising more than $145,429 to support cancer research to date.
25toLife gives students the opportunity to put the lessons they learn in the project management class into practice as they organize a series of fundraising events and activities. After meeting for the first time in September, the class form teams to create and deliver a series of seven events to run throughout the month of November.
The students teamed up with a range of corporate sponsors to deliver a diverse program that included a martial arts based fundraiser, a music and arts festival, a bowling event and a speed painting competition.
SFU Beedie student Lukas Milne took the course and found it challenging, but rewarding.
“The experiential focus of this class meant that we were immediately putting the theory we learned in lecture into practice in the real world,” he says. “I know I’ll be able to take the many lessons learned from this course into my future classes and career. The fact that the funds raised are going towards such a great cause made it even better.”
Dr. Kamal Masri’s work to establish the 25toLife project has earned him significant recognition, including a Surrey Leader Community Leaders Award in 2016 and the Canadian Cancer Society’s Community Champion Award in 2015. Masri is also a two-time winner of the TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest teaching honour available at the Beedie School of Business.