One of the University of Calgary’s oldest fraternity traditions is back on the road this weekend courtesy of the Lambda Mu chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
On Sat., Oct. 13, members of the fraternity will launch the 19th annual Bed Push fundraiser for charity. Funds raised in the 2001 event will be donated to the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, with a fundraising goal of $2,500.
"We canvass our friends, family, neighbours and find sponsors for our charity,’ explained member Scott Barrington. "At the end of the campaign we have about 30 members leaving from Calgary and another 30 leaving from our Edmonton chapter and we race each other to Red Deer pushing a bed on wheels with the help of other fraternities and friends."
The Bed Push tradition began in 1982 when the Lambda Mu chapter was colonized at the U of C and has only missed one year on the road.
"We had the bed stolen on BSD 2000 by two other fraternities as a prank," said Barrington. "We’ve only recently got it back and our new members took the initiative to fix it up and get it ready for the road again."
"We chose to raise funds for cancer this year because it is something that will unfortunately affect many of our peers," added fraternity member Ryan Maunier.
Unlike other years, the fraternity won’t push the bed on highways, but through small towns.
"We got stopped by the RCMP a few years back and the officer informed us that we were not permitted to be pushing a giant bed on wheels with its own steering wheel on the highway," said Lambda Mu event organizer Scott Roblee. "However we are allowed to push it in small towns and that is what we have been doing since."
Other projects the Lambda Mu chapter has worked on include the December 6 White Ribbon campaign and more recently Shinerama, which raised funds for multiple sclerosis.
To support the cause, please call 289-9209.