After emailing her classmates and asking for their input, class treasurer Dr. Laura McKenny followed up on their suggestions – including donations of $500 each to the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre (CCWHC) and to the WCVM Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund.
"The CCWHC endeavours to promote diagnostics, disease surveillance and healthy wildlife in Canada," explains McKenny. "We wanted to focus on animal charities that are outside of the usual cat and dog sphere, since those generally receive the most attention."
She adds that former classmates — Drs. Jamie Rothenburger and Glenna McGregor — are conducting wildlife research through the CCWHC as part of their graduate programs in anatomic pathology at the WCVM.
The group's donation to the WCVM Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund was a popular choice.
"We wanted to give back to fellow WCVM students, especially since veterinary school can be so financially taxing," says McKenny. "Our goal is to help students in the DVM program who are in financial need."
The rest of the surplus money has been distributed to several organizations, each with a particular relevance to the Class of 2010.
For example, they donated $500 to the Christian Veterinary Missions of Canada, an organization which they'd learned about through Brent Wagner, a department assistant in the college's Department of Veterinary Microbiology.
"Brent is one of the leaders of the organization," says McKenny, "and one of their current projects is based in Sierra Leone where they're working with an orphanage teaching them to raise laying hens which can then provide food for the kids."
Other donations were made to Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Liver Foundation – all organizations which had touched the lives of one or more of the students from the Class of 2010.
McKenny and her classmates are gratified that they were also able to donate to charities during their time at the WCVM.
"We donated to several charities including the Ronald McDonald House and the Saskatoon SPCA, and we are proud that we were able to help out our community."
McKenny now lives in Courtenay, B.C., where she works as a small animal veterinarian at Van Isle Veterinary Hospital. But despite the distance, she hasn't forgotten her classmates or her years at the WCVM.
"The WCVM is a special college, and while going to school there we had a strong sense of community and connectedness," she says. "I'm proud of the high-quality education that I received there, and I'll always look back on my time at the WCVM with fondness."
"The CCWHC endeavours to promote diagnostics, disease surveillance and healthy wildlife in Canada," explains McKenny. "We wanted to focus on animal charities that are outside of the usual cat and dog sphere, since those generally receive the most attention."
She adds that former classmates — Drs. Jamie Rothenburger and Glenna McGregor — are conducting wildlife research through the CCWHC as part of their graduate programs in anatomic pathology at the WCVM.
The group's donation to the WCVM Undergraduate Education Enhancement Fund was a popular choice.
"We wanted to give back to fellow WCVM students, especially since veterinary school can be so financially taxing," says McKenny. "Our goal is to help students in the DVM program who are in financial need."
The rest of the surplus money has been distributed to several organizations, each with a particular relevance to the Class of 2010.
For example, they donated $500 to the Christian Veterinary Missions of Canada, an organization which they'd learned about through Brent Wagner, a department assistant in the college's Department of Veterinary Microbiology.
"Brent is one of the leaders of the organization," says McKenny, "and one of their current projects is based in Sierra Leone where they're working with an orphanage teaching them to raise laying hens which can then provide food for the kids."
Other donations were made to Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Liver Foundation – all organizations which had touched the lives of one or more of the students from the Class of 2010.
McKenny and her classmates are gratified that they were also able to donate to charities during their time at the WCVM.
"We donated to several charities including the Ronald McDonald House and the Saskatoon SPCA, and we are proud that we were able to help out our community."
McKenny now lives in Courtenay, B.C., where she works as a small animal veterinarian at Van Isle Veterinary Hospital. But despite the distance, she hasn't forgotten her classmates or her years at the WCVM.
"The WCVM is a special college, and while going to school there we had a strong sense of community and connectedness," she says. "I'm proud of the high-quality education that I received there, and I'll always look back on my time at the WCVM with fondness."
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