Monday, July 09, 2007: Stampede's pink campaign sets $1M goal
It's all about boobs at this year's Stampede -- and we're not talking about the drunken sods with the bad pickup lines in the bars around town. Nope.
This year, after corporate Calgary set a strong example for the better part of the last decade, the Stampede board finally realized the "greatest outdoor show on earth" should have a charitable aspect associated with it. Not that the Stampede doesn't do anything in the community -- it sponsors agriculture-related activities and has had an association with the First Nations that dates back to 1912. But these efforts don't exactly touch the entire community. Unfortunately, breast cancer does.
From this epiphany came the partnership with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation -- Prairies/N.W.T. chapter -- and the "Tough Enough to Wear Pink' campaign to Calgary. The campaign was launched in 2005 in the U.S. by Wrangler, one of the Stampede's key sponsors. Since then, more than 100 rodeos in the U.S. have participated to raise both funds and awareness about breast cancer.
In the context of Stampede, it means the cowboys will be donning one of 30,000 pink shirts manufactured by Wrangler for the 10-day run. The Stampede is also donating the gate receipts for tonight's "sneak a peek" on the midway to the cancer foundation. Participants in the parade are going to be wearing pink, and the Stampede board is hoping spectators lining the route will follow suit. If that isn't enough, jazz-vocalist Diana Krall is giving a fundraising concert tonight for 500 folks willing to shell out $1,000 for a ticket. In this town, where breast cancer has touched so many lives, it's no surprise Krall's gig has been an easy sell.
With all this momentum, it's no wonder the ever-enthusiastic George Brookman, as current chair of the Stampede board, believes raising $1 million for the cancer foundation is entirely possible in the coming 10 days. Either that or he doesn't want to place second after the National Finals Rodeo, which gave a cheque for $1 million to breast cancer research last December.
The Stampede board's decision to partner with the cancer foundation caused one of its board members, Rob Laidlaw of Acumen Capital Partners, to have the foundation as the beneficiary of donations at his annual Stampede party tonight. Anyone not wearing pink will be charged $100 at the door, but Laidlaw is optimistic his party will net at least $100,000 from the 3,500 people who will flow through the doors of his venue through the course of the night, even without the penalty.
The law firm of Osler Hoskin and Harcourt, which was rather preoccupied recently because it was acting for Telus in the weird battle for Bell Canada, has also chosen a breast cancer-related charity, Wings of Hope, as the recipient of this year's donation, which will be presented at the firm's annual shindig tonight.
Wings of Hope supports women who are undergoing treatment, but have limited resources and need help to pay for rent, child care and groceries.
Calgary managing partner Tris Mallett said the firm has a policy of supporting charities to which their employees give their time and prefers to look for organizations that have their roots in the city.
The charitable angle has become so prevalent around town that companies holding Stampede events are increasingly getting the hairy eyeball from guests if their party doesn't have a designated beneficiary associated with it.
Even though there are elements of debauchery that will happen all over town, Stampede has come a long way from being nothing but 10 days of non-stop boozing.
FirstEnergy Capital Corp. gets some credit for this transformation.
When the investment firm started its Rodeo event in 1995, the seven partners came with the idea of staging a holdup at the gate where guests would empty their pockets.
Within two years, the practice had morphed into a cheque-writing exercise, complete with tax receipts, and has never raised less than $100,000 for a variety of organizations, including Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse and The Calgary Counselling Centre.
This year, Peters & Co. has chosen Momentum as the beneficiary of funds raised at its annual Firewater Friday.
Momentum tends to fly under the radar in Calgary, but is an organization dedicated to helping people get on their feet through training, underwriting micro-loans for businesses and innovative programs such as a rent bank, which aids in funding housing.
The list goes on.
But here's what's really powerful about the collective efforts of these firms -- and the many others that aren't mentioned. Over the past several years, corporate Calgary has used Stampede to entertain clients from across the country.
The fact the charity aspect has grown exponentially in the past decade leaves these visitors with a strong impression of this city's remarkable commitment to community that they take back to their own cities.
The Stampede board should be congratulated for joining corporate Calgary's charity manifesto -- even if the Tough Enough to Wear Pink isn't its original idea and the fact it has taken a while for it to understand the need to make a bigger connection on the charitable front.
The reality is Stampede isn't for everyone -- but breast cancer is indiscriminate and remains a disease too many are intimately familiar with.
One suspects the Stampede board is going to be quite surprised over the impact its pink campaign is about to have on the city and its visitors.
dyedlin@theherald.canwest.com
