The University of Calgary Engineering Students’ Society (ESS) hosted Pi Week from March 10–14, an annual charity event where students bought $5 pies for their friends. The pies were given to said friend, who could take the pie to the face or pay extra to forward the pie to someone else.
In total, the ESS raised $5,419 for the Calgary Urban Projects Society (CUPS). CUPS is a non-profit with programs to help people escape the challenges of poverty. U of C president Elizabeth Cannon unveiled the cheque on March 21 in the Engineering Lounge.
“Pi Week is a great tradition for ESS and shows what students can do,” Cannon said. “It’s great to see engineers step up and it’s tremendous to raise more than $5,000.”
Pi Week has supported CUPS for eight years.
CUPS executive director Carlene Donnelly was in attendance at the unveiling of the cheque.
“Pi Week is something that has grown tremendously. You need leadership that embraces fun,” Donnelly said.
Students were not the only ones who took part this year. Some professors agreed to be pied if certain milestones were reached — for instance, the $1,000 mark. Ten professors agreed to be ‘milestones’ this year, including new dean of engineering Bill Roseheart.
Sponsors for the event included Safeway and the U of C Dining Centre. Safeway supplied the shells, while the Dining Centre’s ovens were used to bake the shells. Safeway supplied more than 1,700 pie shells for the event.