Foundation's Newest Team Member Already Making Her Mark
Published Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Cassandra has been playing piano since she was eight years old on a 120-year-old piano, passed down through her family by her great-grandmother.
Meet Cassandra Carangi, Lotteries Assistant at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation
As Cassandra Carangi, the new Lotteries Assistant at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation will tell you, the Thunder Bay 50/50 Store at Intercity Shopping Centre is busy. This year's December 50/50 Draw looks like it will break all records – and local reaction is overwhelming.
“It's been crazy! People were lined up right out the doors,” Cassandra said. She loves the giving spirit ticket buyers have this time of year. “A lot of people tell me, well, even if they don't win, it all goes to a great cause: local healthcare.”
Selling Thunder Bay 50/50 tickets is not where Cassandra imagined she would be, even two months ago. After Cassandra graduated from Lakehead University with a business degree in marketing, she was torn about where to start her new career.
“Definitely, I thought about leaving Thunder Bay,” Cassandra said. “But I'm close to my parents and my sister, so I wanted to stay if I could. I gave myself until December to find a job in my field here, and then I was going to start looking elsewhere.”
As it turned out, Cassandra found the perfect job at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation in October.
“I didn't really know what to expect when I applied,” Cassandra said. “But during the interview, there was just so much energy. By the end of it, I desperately wanted to work with these people.”
The Foundation was equally impressed with Cassandra. She suspects one social media video in particular put her résumé over the top.
“One of the hardest things coming out of university is that people want job experience,” Cassandra said. “I was lucky. I worked at the Fort William Country Club for the past five years or so, and started managing their social media accounts last summer.”
The video she thinks clinched it was, “A Day in the Life of a Bev Cart Girl.”
“They all laughed at that one,” Cassandra said. The team said they loved the creative approach to the video, making it fun, entertaining, and informative.
Still, working at a charitable foundation was not what she pictured out of university.
“I took a course in not-for-profit marketing, and it seemed interesting,” she said. “Now that I'm working at the Foundation, I love being a part of something that helps so many people.”
As Lotteries Assistant, Cassandra helps promote the Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw, particularly through social media and graphic design. It allows her to use what she learned in university – though the hands-on experience took it to a new level.
“I've learned a ton already in the six weeks I've been here,” she said.
When she's not in the office or the Thunder Bay 50/50 Store at Intercity, you can find her at camp in the summer and either on the slopes or at the rink in the winter. Cassandra played competitive hockey for years with the Queens and then for Lakehead, and still plays rec league today.
Music is also a big part of her life, and she plays piano all the time. One thing Cassandra doesn't play though, funny enough, is golf.
“I keep wanting to slap-shot the ball,” she said. “My boyfriend tells me that I picked up too many bad habits from hockey.”
Welcome to the team, Cassandra!