Employees with Gibson Energy in Moose Jaw sure like their ice cream, because a recent fundraiser that sold the sweet treat helped raise nearly $10,000 for two community charities.
The company holds employee giving campaigns three times a year and then lets its sites pick the charities that should receive the money. The recent campaign occurred over several weeks in July, right when Saskatchewan was experiencing a major heatwave.
“(The Moose Jaw team) thought the ice cream would be a nice way to stay cool during the heatwave and then also give back to charity,” said Chloe Mansfield, community relations specialist.
After all the ice cream was sold — courtesy of Déjà Vu Café — and all the pennies were counted, the Moose Jaw campaign raised $9,650. This was then split between Riverside Mission and the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank, with each receiving $4,825.
This is the most money that the Moose Jaw refinery has raised during any employee fundraiser.
Gibson Energy also matched whatever its employees raised during the campaign. So for every $1 that staff gave, the company kicked in $2.
What was notable about this giving campaign is that Clayton Leavitt, the operations manager at the Moose Jaw refinery, sent a “heartfelt” and “powerful” email to employees about why giving is important and how the campaigns make a difference in the community, said Mansfield. The company liked the email so much that it circulated the document throughout the organization.
“It’s not often you see this nice email go around,” she added. “It adds a nice reason why this was so special to us.”
In his email, Leavitt pointed out that giving is important since it’s important to help the less fortunate.
“People often find themselves in problems that were not of their own making and can’t see a way out. If we think about it, any one of us could find ourselves in that same situation if things had gone wrong in our own lives,” he said.
“We have a social responsibility to care for other people, to help those less fortunate than ourselves, to pick those up (who) have fallen and to be there to help when necessary.”
Employees can be confident that the donations they make will help those who need it, with no strings attached or judgement laid against those whom the company is helping, Leavitt continued. Together, staff can help change the world with one small step. Moreover, helping others can create a good feeling that can’t be replicated by doing anything else.
“I have had the opportunity in my life to interact with people who have struggled and to listen to their stories. Some of them are very sad,” said Leavitt. “The simple truth from helping them is the message that someone cares and sees them and wants to help.”
Being charitable is an important lesson that employees can teach their children since kids can learn to be generous, care for the less fortunate, and be less selfish, he added. Meanwhile, being charitable can also change staff for the better since it helps them become better people, change their outlook on life, and encourage them to have hope for the future.
