Congratulations Financial Services students: $28,414 raised for Rotary Club of Hamilton AM

Mohawk College Financial Services students Larry Boyle, Jay Firth, Jennifer Pielechaty, Mike Kwiecien and Abram Yap took top honours in this year's fundraising challenge for the Financial Services program. The team raised more than $8,700 towards the final tally.

Mohawk College's Financial Services students have raised more than $28,400 for the Rotary Club of Hamilton AM.

"We were just so stunned by the number (money raised)," said Marta Stiteler, from the Rotary Club of Hamilton AM.

Marta told the class that the Rotary Club of Hamilton AM was shocked and pleasantly surprised with how much the students raised. The money will go towards Rotary's international and domestic programs. Domestically about half of the money raised will go to support kids and education programs in Hamilton. Internationally, the money will be put toward's Rotary's Malawi Project.

The Rotary fundraiser challenge is new to Christine DiCarlo's second-year Financial Services students. In previous years, the class has focused its efforts on getting people to donate to Canadian Blood Services. The annual challenge helps students hone their sales skills, which they will need to approach prospective clients if they want to succeed in the Financial Services sector. It's also chance for the students to impress potential employers.

"Knowing what it's going to take to be out there this is definitely something that was pretty realistic," said Jay Firth, a Financial Services student and member of the student team that raised more than $8,700 towards the total.

Jay said he wasn't that surprised by the final tally. "I've worked with these people (classmates) for 2 years and I've seen what they capable of and they're capable of great things."