Winning contest extra special for Sheriko

Camp Triumph has been named a winner of the national Aviva Community Fund Competition and will get a new lodge for its efforts.

Selected by voters to move to the December finals, many of its votes can be attributed to St. Thomas students, thanks to the efforts of Camp Triumph volunteer and STU student Matt Sheriko.

Sheriko got the word out about the voting process through newspapers, posters, and Facebook, creating a group titled “Help Camp Triumph from Where you Sit,” which gained 418 members.

“It was hard, and a lot of work to do it but we had to do our best because that’s the part we had control over,” Sheriko said.

Located in Malpeque, Prince Edward Island, Camp Triumph is a getaway for children living in families with chronic illnesses or disabilities. The camp serves as a place for kids to escape the everyday stress of coping. It was developed in 2005, but has been limited until now as they had to rent their facilities for the first four years, and also struggled with only half a facility this past summer.

With the winnings from the competition, a new lodge will be built on the developing site of the camp.

“The lodge is a huge thing. Right now we just have half a facility,” Sheriko said. “We only had one indoor space last summer and that was problematic. Sixty kids in one space all day gets a little bit hectic. (The lodge) will give us a space to really be together and have a good time.”

Sheriko’s family founded the camp when they saw the lack of services available to kids in these situations, and Sheriko himself can relate to the lives of the campers.

“My oldest brother and my mother started it because we had lived in the same situation that these kids had lived in,” he said. “My father had cancer for 18 years of my life. He died just before I came here in 2007.”

Both of Sheriko’s parents battled cancer.

“He was the inspiration for the camp,” Sheriko said. “We felt that this is a need that had gone unmet and we wanted to provide that for these kids, for them to just get away and be kids.”

Alyssa Mosher was one of the many dedicated voters, using three different email addresses to maximize her number of votes. Mosher said she feels close to the cause because of fellow Harrington Raider Sheriko, and because she felt the camp was a worthy cause.

“When I heard about it, I thought it was about time for something like this,” she said. “I felt like they really deserved this more than the others because they’re new and just starting out.”

When she found out that Camp Triumph won the contest she was both surprised and happy.

“It just felt so good,” she exclaimed. “Matt was so adamant about winning, they really deserve this.”

While Sheriko’s mother tried not to get her hopes up, he admits he was always optimistic about the opportunity

“I was like you know we’re in, we have a chance, just have faith. Then she called me and told me that we got it,” Sheriko explained. “I was absolutely ecstatic because the hardest part is the fundraising. To make it happen overnight is really great.”