Have a Heart for CANFAR 2011 Gears Up!

January 13, 2011 by Amanda A.

After five months, 30 volunteers and 2,000 registered schools, the Have a Heart for CANFAR team is thrilled to announce that all Heart-o-gram orders have been packed up and shipped out across Canada!

With the help of our enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers, our team has shipped thousands of boxes full of HIV/AIDS awareness and fundraising materials to every Canadian province and territory in time for Valentine’s Day.

This year, we will reach more than 1,250,000 students with the Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign, which encourages young Canadians to educate their classmates and friends about HIV/AIDS, and raise money for AIDS research.

Each of our participating schools will receive posters to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in the hallways and classrooms of their school, and start a dialogue among students and teachers.

For this year’s Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign, we once again teamed up with the Ontario College of Art & Design. Our three posters were carefully and artfully designed by the students at OCAD, and were chosen by a focus group of high school students. You can check them out here.

This year, schools can fundraise for AIDS research by selling Heart-o-grams to their peers around Valentine’s Day. Each Heart-o-gram contains a packet of gum, an HIV/AIDS fact sheet, and a red ribbon. Some schools will receive lollipops or Sillyband bracelets in the shape of a red ribbon and a heart as an alternative to the gum. A number of schools request that we send condoms to also include in the Heart-o-grams.

This year Have a Heart for CANFAR has grown by over 28%, surpassing our goal of reaching 2,000 schools across Canada!

Here are the stats about this year’s Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign: 2,053 schools are participating this year 494 French schools and 1,559 English schools are involved in the program 239,301 Heart-o-grams will be distributed

Thank you to our sponsors, dedicated volunteers, and all students and teachers participating in this year’s Have a Heart for CANFAR campaign! Together we are developing youth leadership skills, educating students about HIV/AIDS across Canada, and helping find a cure for AIDS. We wish all participating schools and students the best of luck!