Sault College Public Relations and Event Management (PEM) students had some valuable hands-on training at the soon-to-open Chicago Cookhouse Friday afternoon.
The new eatery, located at 342 McNabb Street, will not officially open for another two weeks, but its staff put on a mid-campaign luncheon for United Way Sault Ste. Marie and District officials and guests, with PEM students handling most of the event's formalities.
"We're working together to honour people who have contributed to the United Way campaign so far this year and we're happy to be a part of it…everybody in the PEM class worked very hard on this event," said PEM student Brandon Hazelton.
"This helps us understand what it takes to organize an event, and it's going well."
The event had a Sleepy Hollow theme in keeping with Halloween.
Guests included several notable community figures and the general public.
Approximately 100 guests attended.
"It's great for the program..the students have done this event completely from scratch," said Natasha Colak, Sault College PEM instructor.
"They went out there and advocated for the United Way and contacted many different businesses, banks and sponsors…it's a great way to portray the talents and capabilities of each student."
This year's local United Way campaign is not focussing on a dollar target as in past years, but is instead aiming to raise enough money to provide needed services and programs for 12,000 local individuals and families through the organization's partners.
"We're about a third of the way through the campaign since we launched in September and we're about a third of the way in terms of where we would like to be at, so we've raised enough funds to support 4,000 individuals and families locally, and we're well on our way to getting to 12,000," said Kaitlyn Irwin, United Way campaign manager.
The United Way Sault Ste. Marie and District supports 48 programs and services, including Sault Search and Rescue, Women in Crisis, Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and the Canadian Hearing Society.
The local United Way campaign began in September and ends December 5.
Richard Myers, Algoma University president, is co-chairing this year's campaign with his wife Michelle Atkin.
(PHOTO: Brandon Hazelton, Sault College Public Relations and Event Management (PEM) student with Natasha Colak, PEM instructor. Darren Taylor/SooToday)