Wow – what a successful campaign!
Back in October of 2015, we recruited some wonderful Sifton employees to help make a difference and work toward our Campaign goal this year. We set a target of $45,000 and decided to also work on raising awareness of the needs in our Community.
We began with some fun and enlightening Kick-offs where we gained some first-hand experience of how much of a difference United Way can make in our Community. We also learned that there were going to be many families in London who would not be able to provide warm boots for their children to get through the winter – and so the Sifton teams stepped up. Over 200 pairs of new (or slightly used) boots were donated to the GenNext ‘Give Cold Feet the Boot’ drive, as well as a cheque from the Family Foundation for $2,000! Using these contributions we were told that every family in the London community, who was identified as being in need, would have warm toes this winter!
In November, we challenged Sifton employees to consider signing up for payroll deduction because every little bit makes a difference, and we managed to increase our payroll contributors by 250% and our total payroll deduction commitment to $18,948.10!
In December and January, Sifton teams went out into the Community to provide a great start to over 100 kids’ day by making breakfast at the Neighbourhood Resource Centre of Westminster Park. This program feeds children from 2 local schools that do not have easy access to grocery stores and often are suffering financial stress. They aim to provide a nutritious breakfast and a safe place for the children before school. I’ve heard that this was such a huge success and a wonderful experience that some teams have asked to make this a regular event!
All of this on top of the casual days, bake sales, raffles, coin tosses, pool hopping and much more! We couldn’t be happier to announce that on Friday we presented a cheque to United Way for $67,000 – One of Sifton’s highest contributions to date. This money will help to move people from poverty to possibility, will help kids to be all that they can be, and will build stronger communities.
