Students from the Ontario Agricultural College expect to meet a goal of $10,000 on Wednesday, which will be donated to Wyndham House for this year’s trailer tug fundraiser.
Ontario Agricultural College students, better known as Aggies, have been holding their annual Tug for Tots fundraiser for the last twelve years, said committee chair Danielle Farquharson.
Every year the event organizers choose a different local charity to benefit from its fundraising.
“This year it was Wyndham House that was chosen,” said Farquharson.
Wyndham House's mission is to prevent, reduce and end youth homelessness in Guelph.
For the tractor pull, each team of eight to 10 individuals pays a $200 team fee to enter.
“Any extra sponsorship they want to raise is fantastic,” said Farquharson.
Two teams go head-to-head pulling a tractor by rope down Reynolds Walk on the university campus, with country music blasting over the sound system. A second smaller event pits two people against each other to pull a ride-on lawnmower by rope.
Teams pull once int he morning and then the top teams come back in the afternoon for the final pulls.
“The fastest team wins, so it’s a bit of competition, people try to build the strongest team to see who will win,” said Farquharson. “We do a prize for top puller, top costume and top individual pull for the lawnmower tractor pulls and another for top fundraiser.”
Although there is a prize for top costume, most teams choose to participate in their Aggies jackets, said Farquharson.
“They like to show those off and show off what class they are in,” she said.
The participants are typically Aggies, but Farquharson noted a number of other groups participated this year, including the Central Student Association (CSA) and staff at The Bullring.
Farquharson said she expects the event to raise at least the $10,000 goal for the one-day event.
