Carleton’s Disability Awareness Centre (CDAC) announced a crowdfunding campaign March 12 to purchase accessible gym equipment for Carleton’s athletic facilities.
The campaign’s goal is to raise $6,500 in 90 days to buy an accessible chest press, according to the FutureFunder website, Carleton’s crowdfunding platform.
CDAC’s ultimate goal is to purchase the entire set of equipment, which costs $28,000, according to Arif Jaffer, CDAC’s administrative co-ordinator.
The campaign started when Brett Babcock, a first-year communications student and a Paralympic track and field athlete, approached CDAC in October 2014 and said he felt uncomfortable going to Carleton’s gym.
“Introducing this equipment would help me feel a little more confident going to the gym instead of just lifting the dumbbells,” Babcock said.
“Adding this to the community would really benefit athletes like myself,” Babcock added.
Jaffer said crowdfunding quickly came to mind.
“Everyone’s doing it, it’s popular, and this is a great reason to do it,” he said. “We’re trying to benefit the community as a whole,”
Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) made a $2,000 donation to the campaign, Jaffer said.
Adil Tahseen, CUSA vice-president (student services), said it had always been his goal to get more accessible equipment in Carleton’s gym.
“We looked at many avenues of trying to make this happen, whether through CUSA budget, lobbying administration or anything, so this is kind of a median,” he said.
Tahseen said the first machine is a good step forward.
“Hopefully we can gain some traction with this FutureFunder and say, ‘Hey, we want this other machine’ . . . and we’ll be able to make the whole gym accessible with six or seven machines that we can get,” he said.
Babcock said he wanted the campaign to be positive.
“I’d rather focus on the integration of making it more accessible, not shaming on them,” he said.
Jaffer said it’s always a good time to have a campaign for increased accessibility.
“Carleton touts itself to be Canada’s most accessible university, and we really want to make sure it lives up to that standard,” he said.
The campaign had raised $2,387 as of March 18.
