A softer side of Rex

By Kris Kotarski

The University of Calgary Dinos gave their friends at Street Esteem a $5,000 present following their first football game of the season on Fri., Aug. 31.

The Dinos made the charitable donation at halftime,
following a month-long funding drive.

"The basis for Street Esteem is to get [lower income] people active," said Kelly Almer of Dinos’ Marketing. "We donated all our corporate ticket sales to them."

"We are part of the community and this was a great fit for us," added Head Coach Tony Fasano. "We’re very fortunate as coaches and players to just be able to play football.

"In the real world, there are other challenges besides winning football games."

Street Esteem is a joint effort between the Calgary Drop in Centre, the Mustard Seed Street Ministry, the Salvation Army, C.U.P.S. and the City of Calgary. This is the first year the Dinos have helped Street Esteem and Almer hopes it won’t be the last.

"It was a great event and a great partnership," he said. "Next year we can be much better and go much bigger because we won’t have to start it up from scratch."