The eighth annual Spartan Foundation’s Complete Champions corporate reception raised a record $330,000, topping last year’s mark by more than $100,000.
The event, which was held Nov. 18 at the Langley Events Centre, celebrated four Canadian athletes who competed this past summer at the Rio Games.
The athletes were Paralympian Michelle Stilwell, who is a six-time gold medallist in basketball and track and field, and Olympians Adam Froese, who is a TWU alum and represented Canada in field hockey, former Spartan Chaim Schalk, who played with Canada beach volleyball team and Catharine Pendrel, who won a bronze medal in cross country mountain biking.
“No athlete succeeds without the support of multiple people and organizations along the way,” Stilwell said. “The support the Foundation receives is a great example of how community can help athletes not only achieve their goals, but also help build our leaders of tomorrow.
“And for the great athletes who are at TWU, I think it’s just so important to remember that regardless of your situation, they need to remember that anything is possible. I think I’m an example of that and this is the message I try to give to young athletes.”
The corporate event, which is hosted by the Spartan Foundation, is entirely focused on raising funds for the TWU Spartans Athletics program and the Complete Champion Approach with the intention to impact student-athlete lives.
“We are so encouraged that this corporate fundraising reception continues to grow and gain momentum each year to help the teams and athletes,” said Steve Scholz, Executive Director of the Spartan Foundation.
“We feel extremely blessed by the support from our corporate sponsors, table sponsors and donors who contributed to our matching fund, as well as those who donated on the day of the event. It is exciting to invest and help student-athletes grow and develop today, as one day, they will be our future leaders.
“We could not have raised this amount without the generous support of the corporate community and a special group of donors who established a matching fund for any day-of donations.
The event's diamond sponsors were: GLC Solutions, Novus Glass, and Nicola Wealth Management and to our gold sponsors: Antrim Investments, Bernie Scholz Group, Benchmark Homes, De Jager Volkenant & Company, Mardon Insurance Brokers (White Rock), PXL Crosslinked Foam, Trading Post Brewing and our wine sponsor: Wayne Gretzky Okanagan.