Supporters and students chillin’ for United Way

By Lethbridge Herald on March 17, 2023.

Herald Photo by Ry Clarke Hannah Fantin takes the plunge into the ice cold pool as friends Janelle Marietta and Davide Pafumi watch and wait for their turn to take the leap, Thursday at the University of Lethbridge bus loop.

Ry Clarke – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The University of Lethbridge made a splash Thursday afternoon with the return of its Chillin’ 4 Charity event hosted by the Dhillon Business Student Association (DBSA).

 The event was put on pause in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returning after a four-year hiatus. The event focused on raising funds for United Way Lethbridge and South Western Alberta. Students, faculty, and community members collected donations and took a plunge into a pool on campus at the bus loop with all funds raised going to a worthy cause.

“We have donations set up (in the bus loop), people can donate $5, and then jump into the ice-cold pool, and then they can go warm up in the hot tub,” said Ankit Mukherjee, Executive Vice President of the DBSA. 

“We are also handing out free meals, we have a lot of Kraft dinner and noodles. This charity event hasn’t happened in four years, last time it happened was 2019.”

The DBSA put in the work to bring the event back, noting after four years those who had worked on the event in previous years had graduated. 

“Our biggest challenge was getting all the logistics and hazard assessments, organizing everything with the hot tub and pool. We took probably close to two weeks of planning, which is quite fast for this scale of event. A lot of thanks go to the Student Union, the Dillon School of Business, and the Student Affairs Office,” said Mukherjee.

 “None of us who were organizing this event were students back in 2019. This was our first time, and it was an experience for all of us.”

Bringing back a classic event for student enjoyment, Chillin’ 4 Charity was a welcome sight on campus.

 “It feels great to help the community raising money for a good cause. Since COVID, there has been a significant drop in student engagement with events. This has helped bring in that engagement. But it’s pretty easy to get engagement when you have a massive pool and hot tub right in front of the University,” said Mukherjee. 

“It feels good, I know none of our friends would do it,” said Emma Slater, a first year marketing student. “We are doing it for a good cause.”