GUELPH – The Oak Tree Project announced the four semi-finalists who will work with University of Guelph students from the Idea Congress (ICON) program this fall.
The four organizations are:
– Big Brothers Big Sisters Guelph to support their virtual match program;
– Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington to grow their peer support program for their Integrated Youth Services Network;
– The Guelph Arts Council to support their one-on-one consulting and communications services for local artists; and
– The Guelph Black Heritage Society in support of their #ChangeStartsNow Campaign in support of #BlackLivesMatter.
“Choosing the four winners was a real challenge for the panel of university and community judges,” stated Lindsay Thomson, from the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) at the University of Guelph, who was both a judge and hosted the online launch event.
“Each of our winners is tackling a unique need in our community and we can’t wait to see what innovative ideas they create with their student partners.”
The Ideas Congress (ICON) is a hands-on course at U of G for students of all levels and disciplines to work in teams to find solutions to real-world challenges.
Students will be paired with one of the four charities over the fall. During this time, students and charities will work together to expand the original idea submitted and build a pitch for November that will help the charity win the $7,500 Oak Tree Project grand prize.
The launch event on Sept. 24, that contained both live and pre-recorded segments, was produced by long time Oak Tree sponsor Ward 1 Studios and can be viewed at OakTreeGuelph.ca.
