Photo Courtesy / Megan Harris

On Sept. 23, pink paper lined the windows of the Student Centre. Music blasted. Girls lined-up eagerly to get their nails and hair done. Outside, a crowd gathered around a portable rock climbing wall.

The event? Th!nk P!nk. The cause? Breast cancer awareness and fundraising.

The event, which was a collaboration between several campus clubs, raised $2,750. One of the event co-ordinators, Hafsa Pathan, said that this amount is double original expectations. All proceeds went to support team UTSC’s participation in CIBC’s Run for the Cure, a charity which raises money for breast cancer research.

Despite the large amount of money raised, Pathan said that fundraising was only part of the event’s goal.

“I don’t think raising money was the main part of the day — it was raising awareness,” Pathan said. “When they went into the Student Centre and saw that it was all pink, a lot of people asked questions, and that’s what we wanted them to do.

The student centre windows were decked out with pink tissue paper and tablecloths, which helped to set the atmosphere for the afternoon. Third-year management student Andrea Dimonaco, who was at the event collecting donations, said that the pink decorations and the location of the event were instrumental in bringing people out.

“A lot of people come here to get food and take the buses, so a lot of people are seeing what’s going on,” she said.

One of the most popular attractions was Savior My Beauty, set up by the Be A Savior Foundation. For $5 each, girls could get their hair or eyebrows done, receive manicures or get henna tattoos, with all proceeds going to breast cancer research.

“We knew that event (Savior My Beauty) would be successful,” Pathan said with a laugh. “Let’s be serious—these girls are getting their nails done for $5!”

Another notable event was the Charity Group Leader Date Auction: group leaders from this year’s Orientation were auctioned off as dates. Rex’s Den sponsored the event, and gave gift certificates to the leader and the winning bidder. Pathan says that the auction raised over $600 and was one of the most successful events of the day.

Other attractions included a 26-foot rock climbing wall, run by the Best Damn Sports Club Period, the South Asian Alliance’s capture the flag game, a raffle, and dance performances by several campus groups.

Even Nasir, the campus “hot dog guy” got into the spirit as well and decorating his stand with pink balloons and donated part of his proceeds from the day to the cause.

Rachella Valdez, a fourth-year student who attended the event, was glad the campus put on such a large scale event to promote breast cancer awareness and raise funds.

“It’s affecting more people than you think,” said Valdez. “None of my family directly, but my close friends, and as much money as you can give is great.”

The event was also about bringing together different clubs on campus to work towards the same cause. Ys Lee, founder of the Be A Savior Foundation, said that one of the goals of his organization is to “enrich campus life.”

“Everyone plays a part in making UTSC a better place,” said Lee, referring to his organization’s involvement in Th!nk P!nk.

Pathan hopes that in the future other events of this scale can be arranged, especially for the purpose of promoting school spirit. She also feels that it’s important for campus clubs to unite and get to know one another, to make it easier to collaborate on other events in the future.

“I think that we should have more events like this, not necessarily for raising money for breast cancer, but with other causes, to show that we do have school spirit,” said Pathan. “And to show that when it comes down to it, we can all work together and throw a great event.”

Pathan has also been part of organizing a UTSC team to take part in the CIBC Run for the Cure, an event taking place in different cities across Canada. This year’s run took place Oct. 3 at U of T’s St. George campus, with over 80 participants from UTSC. Team UTSC raised over $7,000.