50 for 50

2018 marked the 50^th anniversary of the first ever Queen's Football Vanier Cup championship. On November 22, 1968 Queen's took down Waterloo Lutheran (now Wilfred Laurier) 42-11, to capture the school's first ever Vanier Cup. As a means of honouring the 1968 Vanier Cup championship team and the students, alumni and community that has served us so well over the years the Queen's Football team committed to completing 50 acts of community service in 2018!

Month	Initiative	Story
January	Bell Let's Talk	The team supported mental health initiatives at the Bell Let's Talk basketball games in January.
January	Cuts for Cancer	After many months of growing out his locks, Tim Vanheuvelen participated in Cuts for Cancer.
January	Gael Force Dinner	Queen's football brother duo Nick and Mitch Dowd sent out personalized Gael Force Dinner invites to football alumni.
February	School visit	Nick Liberatore, Nicholas Pinard, and Andy Ngobila visited St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School to discuss the importance of persevering through adversity and always having a growth mindset. The players capped off the visit by taking the elementary students through a series of fun football drills.
February	School visit	Chris Osei-Kusi, Tim Vanheuvelen, and Donte Dehaney visited a grade 5 class at Mother Theresa Catholic School. After a fun, active session in the gym, the students were excited to take home some Queen's Football keychains, and a few autographs.
February	Coaching	Football student-athletes helped coach Powder Puff football teams during the winter.
February	Book Launch	Student-athletes supported alumnus Merv Daub at the book launch event for his second edition of Gael Force.
February	Queen's Cares	Ron Jones volunteered with Queen's Cares supporting local refugees through the Begin Again Group.
March	Campus Tour	Jake Firlotte provided a campus tour for prospective indigenous students.
March	Motionball Fundraiser	Student-athletes fundraised for Motionball and Special Olympics.
March	Motionball Marathon of Sport	Student-athletes participated in the Queen's motionball Marathon of Sport alongside local Special Olympics Athletes.
March	Peer Mentorship Day	Student-athletes participated in Peer Mentorship Day for Pathways to Education.
March	School visit	Student-athletes visited Archbishop O'Sullivan to play some adaptive dodgeball and touch football.
March	School visit	A visit to Our Lady of Lourdes included a classroom discussion on growth mindset, and some fun football drills in the gym
April	School visit	A visit to St. John XXIII Catholic School visit focused on healthy active living, along with some fun active football drills in the gym.
April	A.M.P.	Emilio Frometa was one of six Queen's students to receive the Agnes Benidickson Tricolour Award, for his work as the founder of the Autism Mentorship Program (A.M.P.).
April	A.M.P. Event	One of many A.M.P. events, A.M.P mentor, Daniel Challice and is AMP buddy laced up for a skate.
April	Train with Grains donation	After wining the OUA Train with Grains competition Chris Osei-Kusi donated his winnings to two local organizations.
April	Revved-Up	Throughout the school year Ejaz Causer volunteered with Revved-Up, a program at Queen's that allows volunteers to give back to the Kingston community by helping people with physical and mental disabilities exercise.
May	TIMFL Community Day	The Thousand Islands Minor Football League hosted their annual Community Day at Richardson Stadium, and Queen's football student-athletes were on site to help teach football fundamentals.
May	Calvin Park Tournament	Football student-athletes helped out at the annual Calvin Park touch football tournament.
June	TIMFL Championships	Nate Hobbs, Richard Burton, Oliver Mackenzie, Thompson McCallum, Marquis Richards, Nick Liberatore, Ethan Whiting were on site at the TIMFL Championship games to select players of the game and hand out medals and trophies.
July	Corey Trudeau Tournament	Football alumni gathered at Richardson Stadium to celebrate the life of their teammate Cory Trudeau and raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters Kingston, and Cory's daughters trust fund.
July	Mini and Junior Gaels Camps	Following a week of football camp, Mini and Junior Gaels Football Camp participants were welcomed to Richardson Stadium for a glimpse of what it's like to be a Gael.
July	Coaching	Nate Hobbs, Spencer Giffin, Kurtis Schaefer, Philip MacLean and Marquis Richards were among the Gaels who helped coach the Limestone Grenadiers over the summer.
August	Movies in the Square	Ben Arhen and Kurtis Schaefer got to know plenty of future Gaels while at Movies in the Square in August.
August	Princess Street Promenade	Jake Firlotte and Nick Liberatore met lots of young fans during the summer Princess Street Promenade.
August	Boys and Girls Club visit	The team took time out of their busy training schedule to visit the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston and Area in August. Over the course the afternoon the Gaels got to know the campers and took groups through a series of fun drills.
August	Community Heroes Football game	The Gaels honoured local Police, Fire, Military and Paramedics at their Community Heroes football game.
September	Movies in the Square	Mitchell Blasko, Dom Ciraco, Sal Cause, Wells Karabin, Liam Wolfe and Carson Waite met lots of local fans at Movies in the Square in August.
September	ARC student promo	Marquis Richards, Josh Mosley, Chris Osei-Kusi and Mitchell Blasko got to know students on campus with their booth at the ARC.
September	Move-in Day	The team helped move first year Queen's students into residence in September.
September	Kid's Day pre-game event	The Gaels invited all young fans to a pre-game fan fest with sign making, face paint, bouncy castles and more before a home game this season.
September	TIMFL Championship Teams	The Gaels invited the 2018 TIMFL championship teams to be recognized on field at a Gaels home game this season.
September	Kid's Day post-game event	The Gaels invited young fans on field post-game for a chance to run through the team tunnel and to meet the team.
September	Special Olympics athletes	Local Special Olympics athletes were invited to Richardson Stadium to take in a game and the meet the team.
September	Movies in the Square	Mitchell Blasko, Dominic Ciraco, Sal Cause, Liam Puskas, Liam Wolfe and Carson Waite could be found found at a fun and interactive booth at Movies in the Square in September.
September	Food bank donations	Together with the Queen's University Department of Athletics & Recreation, the Queen's Varsity Leadership Council (VLC) collected cans of food from Gaels athletes for the Partners in Mission Food Bank during the Athlete's welcome event.
September	Blood Battle	The Gaels raised awareness and encouraged donations to Canadian Blood Services through their Blood Battle competition.
September	Elementary school students at Richardson Stadium	The Gaels gave students from St. Francis of Assisi a chance to take in a home game at Richardson Stadium and meet the team after the game.
September	HS team at Richardson Stadium	The Bayridge Secondary School junior football team had the opportunity to hold the Canada flag on field during the national anthem at a home game this season.
September	Run for the Cure	Queen's varsity athletes participated in the Kingston Run for the Cure and raised over $38,000 breast cancer research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment and care through the Canadian Cancer Society.
October	Jumpstart Games	Queen's Athletics and Recreation hosted the Kingston Canadian Tire Jumpstart Games - an event which brought in nearly 300 students from local schools to take part in a fun, safe, free, multi-sport day of games. Queen's varsity athletes were on site for the fun and games all day.
October	Think Pink	The team showed their support for breast cancer awareness during their Think Pink game. The Canadian Cancer Society and Breast Cancer Action Kingston were both on site to provide information and accept donations.
November	School visit	Chris Osei-Kusi, Kurtis Schaefer, Ejaz Causer, Connor Burtenshaw, and Zach Kealey visited Fairfeild Elementary to speak about growth mindset, and play some football.
November	Remembrance Day	Student-athletes showed their respect at a local Remembrance Day ceremony.
November	Season Ticket Holder phone calls	Ben Arhen, Brendan Steele, Richard Burton, Cam Lawson, and Will Bannatyne took to the phones to call some of our most loyal fans to thank them for their support.
November	A.M.P. Super Saturday	A.M.P. hosted it's annual AMPed UP Super Saturday, which offered A.M.P families the opportunity to enjoy men's and women's volleyball and basketball games, with a sensory safe zone on site.
December	School visit	Tim Vanheuvelen and women's ruby players Rachel Hickson and Lydia Salgo taught the students of St. Martha's Catholic School about the difference between rugby and football, and the benefits of getting involved in sport.
December	Holiday initiative	Football student-athletes and the Queen's Varsity Leadership Council supported Martha's Table with 25 holiday baskets and over $600 this holiday season.