It took roughly 7 minutes and 472 steps to get to the top.
Matt Wannan, together with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry team at The University of Western Ontario, accepted United Way of London and Middlesex’s So You Think You Can Climb One London Place challenge in November.
Finishing in first place, the team raised more than $10,000 for United Way, while Wannan, an education evaluation specialist at Schulich, came in second in the individual fundraiser category, raising more than one third of his team’s total.
And, for the first time, Western was the top corporate fundraiser, contributing more than $25,000 to the climb.
By December, Western had raised a total of $580,759, equal to 89 per cent of this year’s $650,000 goal. While this was the last official number released, Western is nearing its goal and United Way is reminding the community that there is still time to donate.
Wannan, co-chair of the United Way campaign at Schulich, says the results reflect not just his team’s efforts, but also Western’s dedication to helping the community.
“The people (giving) are people who want to help their neighbours and friends, people who come to work every day and are taking money off their paycheque to give to United Way,” he says.
Wannan adds while there are many worthwhile charitable organizations, giving to United Way resonates on a personal level.
“The money stays in the community and you can see the results. These are your co-workers, your friends and neighbours you are helping, and you might not even know you are helping them. I think that’s what’s so powerful,” he says.
With the current state of the economy and London’s high unemployment rate, Wannan thinks United Way’s work within the community is indispensable.
“You can work really hard to affect change and it’s hard to do that when there are so many struggles going on. It can be really defeating. It’s the reason we do something like the (United Way) campaign.”
For the last 10 years, Western has increased its annual donation. Last year’s $631,487 was the largest single donation ever to United Way London & Middlesex.
The City of London has set a 2011 goal to raise $8.5 million.