Meet Jacob Pavan, one of the President’s of the Laurier Against Childhood Cancer club! Jacob and his team have been hard at work and are hosting an incredible event here at Laurier this weekend. Check out what Jacob has to say about being a Golden Hawk, being involved with LACC, and their upcoming event below.
Name: Jacob Pavan
Age: 21
Year: 4th year
Program: BBA
Relationship status: In a relationship with my beautiful girlfriend
Why did you choose to come to Laurier?
At first, I was interested in Laurier because of how well-known their business and co-op program is. However, what really sold me on coming here was when I had a tour. It was very obvious that there is a ton of school spirit, and tons of opportunities to get involved. Also, I loved how small the campus is.
What does it mean to be a Golden Hawk?
To me, being a Golden Hawk means being passionate about something and going above and beyond for that passion. Over my years here I’ve met a bunch of different people who have started or are a part of a variety of different clubs. It’s amazing to see the amount of dedication and pride people have when they are supporting something they are passionate about. I would recommend joining a club you are interested in, I promise you it will be some of the best times you have while in university.
What are some of the different clubs or organizations you have been involved with here at Laurier?
Over the last four years, I’ve been a part of a variety of different clubs and organizations. In my first year, I was on House Council as the Residence Athletic Council (RAC) representative. I was also an Exec on Grillfrid Laurier which was Laurier’s meat grilling club. In my second year, I was an Icebreaker during O-Week for the Red Agents, and I started working for a start-up company called GradeUp that provides tutoring services for students at Laurier and UW. I also joined the LACC exec team in my second year of university. In third year, I continued with GradeUp as the VP of Operations and with LACC as VP of Public Relations. Now in my fourth year I have decided to only be on LACC as a Co-President.
What is the LACC club about? Is anyone allowed to join/how do you become involved?
The main objective of LACC is to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer, but we’re a lot more than that. We really try to provide a fun environment for our entire Exec and General Member teams. We usually have snacks at all of our meetings and like to plan socials for our Execs and GMs. We are also about developing future leaders. Everyone on our exec team sets goals every year and we try and help our team achieve them. There are opportunities to move into higher positions within the club. We really do care about everyone involved in our club. Anyone is allowed to join, we have both exec and general member positions available every year. At the beginning of the year we set up a booth at the Get Involved Fair so people can sign up if they are interested. We do have an interview process for anyone who wants to be on the exec team. If you would like to be a GM, you just have to submit a paragraph on why you want to be a part of the LACC.
How and why did you become involved with the Laurier Against Childhood Cancer club, which you are now a co-president of?
In my first year at Laurier my residence floor participated in the Inside Ride. The event was a lot of fun and I noticed how much fun the LACC exec team was having. I knew some people on the exec team and asked them what they thought of the club. Everyone had only positive things to say. After those discussions, I knew I was going to apply to be an Exec the next year. Fighting cancer is something that I am very passionate about. I have lost some close friends and family to cancer. Applying to be an exec at LACC is the best decision I’ve made in university.
What are some achievements LACC has had this year and/or in the past?
Over the past 5 years, LACC has raised over $46,000 for the Coast to Coast foundation. This year we have set a goal to raise another $10,000 for the foundation. Over the past two years we have also started hosting/co-hosting blood drives at Laurier. I’ve estimated we have had over 100 donors in the past two years and will have another fifty this school year.
LACC has a great event coming up called The Inside Ride. Can you tell us about the event?
The Inside Ride is Canada’s indoor cycling challenge that raises funds in support of children and their families living with and beyond childhood cancer. 100% of the proceeds raised for this event go to supporting children’s cancer charities through the Coast to Coast foundation. Our Inside Ride will be happening on January 28th from 2-4:30 at University Stadium.
To participate you need to create a team of 5 – 6 people and sign up online. Each team has to raise a minimum of $600 ($100 dollars per person) to participate. At the event, each team will be assigned to a stationary bike and each participant will take a 10-minute turn to ride the bike. There is a ton of prizes that can be won! Some of the prize categories are top fundraisers, most spirt, best costumes, and most mileage ridden.
What are some of the objectives/goals of the Inside Ride event for the LACC and Laurier community?
Our main goal this year is to raise $10,000 dollars for the Coast to Coast foundation. We also use this event to raise awareness about childhood cancer. Every year we dedicate the event to someone and have a speaker talk about their experience with childhood cancer. Above all, this event is also about having a lot of fun! Throughout the event there’s music playing and teams are cheering and laughing. We encourage clubs and organizations at Laurier to sign up with their teams and wear their club swag.
Although you have to register to be on a team for the Inside Ride, what are some other ways we can participate or contribute to this event?
Registration for the event closes Thursday January 26th and 6:00pm. If you are participating you can sign up a team at http://wlu.theinsideride.com/. If you can’t find enough people for a full team you can sign up for our free agent team here https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?langPref=en-CA&TSID=727747.
On the day of the event we will create a team with all of the free agents. You can also volunteer at the event. We need help with set up, running the event, and take down. If you are interested in helping out with volunteering, you can email us at laurieragainstchildhoodcancer@gmail.com. Lastly, if you would like to donate to the event you can follow this link: https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?SID=8340257&LangPref=en-CA&EID=210346. 100% of the proceeds raised for this event go to supporting children’s cancer charities.
What are you looking forward to the most about this event?
Everything! The Inside Ride is such an amazing event! If I had to pick one thing it would be the amount of fun everyone is having while there.
Big thanks to Jacob for taking the time to talk to us! Come out on January 28th to University Stadium to support The Inside Ride charity event and watch the girls of Her Campus take part and get their glow on!