A third-year biomedical sciences student exceeded expectations when his fundraising club raised $25,000 in just three weeks for pediatric medical equipment at Windsor Regional Hospital.

Armaan Saini created the UWindsor Med-Assist Initiative with the help of biological sciences student Milan Lobana to raise funds for medical organizations. Last month, the club took on its largest project through a partnership with What’s Poppin Popcorn and The Toy Box Early Childhood Learning Centre — selling the salty snack to families there.

Saini said the inspiration for the club started with his grandmother who had Parkinson’s Disease, an illness that required her to have medical equipment around the home to help with mobility.

“It’s all in my grandmother’s name. That’s why I created it,” he said. “She passed away in April. So, in the summer I had the idea to create a club to focus on fundraising for medical equipment because I saw that gap with other families as well.”

From there, about 10 students joined his club, including concurrent education student Gabby Raymond, who Saini said was instrumental in getting this project off the ground as her mother, Anna Raymond, is the owner of the Toy Box centres.

“My mom was onboard right away, she hadn’t done a fundraiser in a while and really liked the idea,” Raymond said.

“We were so surprised to see how much was raised. We were not expecting this much engagement but all the families at Toy Box were so supportive.”

Saini said he expected to raise about $4,000 through his popcorn-selling fundraiser. But orders started popping in and $73,000 in popcorn was sold, with $25,000 donated to the Windsor Regional Hospital’s pediatric ward.

Outside of his studies, Saini works at Windsor Regional Hospital as a patient experience co-ordinator, a job that has allowed him to hear from patients and recognize their needs.

“It feels good,” he said of his fundraising success. “At my job, I go around to all the floors, to all the discharges at both Met and Ouellete. So, I see firsthand what these patients are going through, and what’s happening in their lives during their stay. It feels good that we can improve on that in terms of medical equipment.”

The group plans to build on this momentum.

“This is just the start,” Saini said. “We’re definitely going to continue to do more for the hospital and different organizations as well.”