A Grey Cup personal wager has turned into much needed funding for refugee families coming to Kingston.

Queen’s law students Adam Sadinsky, who hails from Ottawa, and Ian Moore, who comes to Queen’s from Edmonton, placed a personal wager on the Canadian Football League title game. Instead of money exchanging hands between the winner and loser, though, the two third-year students decided to donate the money to the local Refugee Relief Fund operated by the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington.

The fund is a joint effort between the United Way and the City of Kingston working in partnership with Kingston Community Health Centres, the County of Frontenac, and the County of Lennox and Addington.

“We decided to create a wager on the game and all the money would be donated to charity,” Mr. Sadinsky says. “Once other students and faculty heard about it, they wanted to donate as well.”

In fact, so much was being donated that Mr. Sadinsky and Mr. Moore set up a Tilt page to allow online contributions to the Refugee Relief Fund. The page closes on Friday, Dec. 11, at which time the money will be donated.

“It’s wonderful the group is helping welcome the refugees to Kingston,” says United Way President and CEO Bhavana Varma. “The money they raise will be put into a large pot and a panel will decide how best to use the money to help the families.”

Both Mr. Moore and Mr. Sadinsky are thrilled the student body got so involved in the project.

“This was a perfect opportunity for students to get together for a common cause,” says Mr. Moore. “Both Adam and I believe in this cause and it’s also nice to have our fellow law students donate.”

The two football fans became friends when they created Juris Diction, the Queen’s law student newspaper. The student-run online newspaper is published twice a month and there are 28 students regularly involved on a volunteer basis. Mr. Sadinsky is the editor-in-chief and Mr. Moore volunteers as the publisher.