More than half a million dollars was raised for student athletes during a virtual reception last Friday.

The Spartan Foundation鈥檚 12th annual Complete Champions corporate fundraising event raised a record $545,000 for Trinity Western University students, announced foundation executive director Steve Scholz.

The livestream event, which was initially broadcast on Nov. 13, featured champion athletes Shane Doan and and Leighann (Doan) Reimer as the guest speakers. Doan is a former NHL All-Star and Team Canada captain, while Reimer is a former professional basketball player in Europe, a former member of Canada鈥檚 national basketball team, and the CIS female athlete of the year for 2001.

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鈥淲e are so encouraged that during this difficult time, amidst the pandemic, we were able to adjust and have all the pieces to this new virtual fundraising reception come together,鈥� Scholz said.

鈥淚t was a great team effort, and even though it was a new event, it continues to grow and gain momentum each year to help the Spartan teams, coaches and athletes. We feel extremely blessed by the support from our corporate partners, team families, team supporters, and donors who contributed to our matching fund, as well as those who donated during the live stream and over this past weekend. It is exciting to invest and help student athletes grow and develop, as they are our future leaders,鈥� he elaborated.

This year鈥檚 Complete Champions reception, which usually includes time for the business community to network and connect, was revamped and presented as a virtual event.

Thanks to a record-high day-of giving, which saw more than $325,000 donated from Nov. 13 through 15, the fundraising event once again surpassed the half-million-dollar mark.

WATCH the 2020 Complete Champions Reception: www.completechampionsreception.com.

The Doan siblings were interviewed by Jeff Gamache, Director of Athletics at TWU, and shared many stories, leadership nuggets and insights about their faith journey and how sport has impacted them.

The event also included inspirational stories from current Spartans women鈥檚 rugby star and TWU men鈥檚 hockey alum .

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The reception is hosted by the , an organization with the entirely focused purpose of raising funds for the TWU Spartans Athletics program and the with the intention to impact student-athlete lives.

Spartan Athletics is an official members of U SPORTS, and students currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women鈥檚 rugby sevens.

TWU also competes as an independent team in men鈥檚 rugby.

Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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