An internship with the Canadian Cancer Society has brought Andrea Mameri closer to her goal of working in sports marketing. A fourth-year Sociology student with a minor in Commerce, Andrea worked with the Canadian Cancer Society as a Student Associate for the Corporate Giving Officer, Grace Chiu.
The Arts Internship Program connects students with 4-8 month part-time, unpaid internships which can be completed at the same time while taking classes. The majority of internship placements are in non-profit and community organizations.
Andrea started her internship in the middle of Daffodil Month, the Canadian Cancer Society’s annual campaign for promoting cancer research, support programs, and prevention programs. Aside from assisting Grace with administrative tasks, one of her major responsibilities was to create sponsorship reports for the society’s corporate partners, which summarized Daffodil Month initiatives and outlined how their contributions were used.
“I decided to go into the Arts Internship Program because I wanted to apply what I had learnt in class to the real world,” said Andrea. “Not only did I get to do tasks that were applicable to other positions, Grace was amazing to work with and really wanted me to grow as an individual and as a professional.”
What started out as an internship has since turned into a part-time job. In July, Andrea was hired on as the Project Coordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Vancouver Whitecaps 50/50 fundraising program.
“During my internship, I had worked with Hillary Jenkins, the 50/50 coordinator at the time. A new opportunity had arisen for her, so that position became available,” she said. “She was a great mentor and had been training me, and I knew how the program worked, so my internship turned into a part-time job.”
As a huge soccer fan, Andrea was thrilled by this turn of events. In her new role, she organizes up to 25 volunteers who sell 50/50 tickets at each game, handles the pre- and post-game paperwork, assists with the raffle, and keeps track of financial forecasting.
“I had the opportunity to work behind the scenes, attend all the games, and I got to meet the coach!” she said. “It’s definitely opened up doors and I think it’s the most beneficial thing that I got from the internship.”
