For 11 years, the rallying cry for cash-strapped Canadian athletes has been "See You In the next Olympic city," such as Sydney or Salt Lake City or Athens.
Tuesday morning, Olympic and Paralympic athletes are out to see fellow Canadians on their home turf, in Toronto's financial district.
Toronto's not an Olympic town -- its aspirations for 1996 and 2008 were rejected by the International Olympic Committee -- but Canada's money and media are largely headquartered there. On Tuesday, eleven Canadians Olympians and Paralympians, including medal winning wrestler Tonya Verbeek and rower Barney Williams, gathered at the business community's home of King and Bay Streets to promote a donations campaign for cash-poor athletes. It's themed for the start date of the Beijing Olympics -- $8 for 08.08.08.
"Eight dollars can change a Canadian athlete's world and change Canada, one donation at time," said Jane Roos, founder of the Canadian Athletes Now foundation which has raised and distributed more than $6-million to assist 500 Canadian athletes directly since 1997.
"We need to see excellence to know it's possible in our lives, and one of the ways Canadians see excellence is through their athletes," Roos said.
The CAN Fund has a matching program through which the $8 donations are doubled. Already on the donation list is Athens gold medal kayaker Adam van Koeverden, who contributed $800 for fellow athletes. Winter athletes such as skier Kelly VanderBeek and hockey player Jennifer Botterill also helped kick-start the fund, Roos said.
"Eight dollars, going to the right person at the right time, can turn out role models. Athletes bring value to the country regardless of whether they bring medals home, as examples of dedication and persistence and excellence," Roos said.
Ironically, the CAN Fund group is not using the "See You in... " pitch this time, even though the courts last week affirmed that mark legally belongs to CAN Fund and not the Canadian Olympic Committee. The court ruled the although the COC appropriated the mark, it failed to show adequate use of it. "We wouldn't use See You in Beijing right now," Roos said. "It's more effective this time to ask 'did you know for $8 you can make Canada better?'"
