UNBC business students take ice baths for healthcare

“What we’re trying to do is bring that care closer to home and closer to the community. It’s really heartwarming to see all of these amazing businesses step up and take up the mantle of charity and say, ‘yes, I care about the north and I care about the people of Prince George, and I care about the surrounding northern areas,'” added UNBC JDC West Director of Charity Emily Roberts.

Roberts says in the decade-plus of doing this event, it has raised more than one million dollars for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation, a feat that wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of local businesses and community members both. The business students are prepared to brave the cold water again tomorrow at the CN Centre beginning at 2:30 p.m. to continue their efforts in bringing valuable healthcare equipment to the north.

“We love Chilling 4 Charity and we love our JDC West students so much. I think it’s such a neat thing to have young people wanting to give back to the community, wanting to bring the very best in care for patients in the North,” said Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation CEO Aimee Cassie.

This year, the fundraising is going towards an endobronchial ultrasound, or E-BUS, which Cassie explains is a piece of equipment that can diagnose lung or pancreatic cancers, and do biopsies of lymph nodes in surrounding tissues.

“Right now we’re sending anywhere from five to ten patients per week down to Kelowna and Vancouver for this service, which is incredibly trying for our patients in the North,” Cassie said.

“It is a less invasive procedure to do biopsies. We’re not having to open the patient up, and one of the physicians was explaining to me that quite often they will open a patient up to do biopsies, and you’re putting the body through more strain, more stress, at an already trying and stressful time,” she continued.

Last year Chillin 4 Charity raised $93,000, which ranked first among all JDC West schools. This was a particularly notable accomplishment as UNBC was competing among several of the country’s biggest universities, like the University of Alberta, University of BC, and more.

“It’s a community. It’s a very tightly knit and and you know everyone, like you know your neighbors, you know Penny from down the street and Margaret from church. Everyone knows everyone and they care about each other,” Roberts said.

“This is community impact in motion, right? It’s business students going out there making sure that the community is well supported, that there are initiatives that we’re working hard for. And it also just gives you a warm, fuzzy, feeling inside, knowing that your hard work, your donations, go towards a cause that is helping people,” Aryanshu said.

As for the act of jumping into ice water in winter, it’s not something that most people would readily sign up for, but the students say it’s definitely worth it, knowing that they’re helping all of northern B.C, with vital healthcare equipment.

“This is something that the Prince George community desperately needs, and it’s a cause that I believe in from the bottom of my heart. That fact warms me up enough to take the leap into the icy cold water,” Roberts said.

As for when the E-BUS will be in Prince George, Cassie says she hopes to be able to order one as early as this upcoming December. While it does have a hefty price tag at $600,000, fundraising events like this, and the upcoming Festival of Trees, make it possible to bring these tools to Prince George.

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by Tommy Osborne

UNBC business students take ice baths for healthcare

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