'Casual for a Cause'
They may be wearing jeans, but there’s nothing casual about the efforts of three Concordia departments to collect food and money to fill the Sun Youth Organization’s holiday baskets for Montrealers in need of some assistance.
“We’ve collected $424 and more than 1,300 food items,” says Maureen McCormick, executive director of Benefits, Compensation, Pension and Human Resources Information Systems. “When Sun Youth organizers picked up our 33 boxes last week, they said it was their biggest collection from a school drive this year.”
The Human Resources department kicked off the eight-week campaign October 22, with Advancement and Alumni Relations and School of Extended Learning joining a few weeks later. “We all work in the Faubourg Building,” says Madalena Vidal, Human Resources’ senior pension advisor. “The others saw us in jeans and the boxes we decorated for donations and they wanted to become involved.”
Michelle Taylor, HR’s benefits specialist, led the first employee drive in 2008. “With food banks under increasing pressure to meet people’s needs, I felt we had to do our part,” she says. “I’m so very grateful for the enthusiasm and generosity that my colleagues demonstrate.”
All the employees who donate an item of non-perishable food or money each week obtain a ‘Casual for a Cause’ badge that explains why they are in jeans and a comfy shirt or sweater at the office.
“Even people who preferred not to dress casually or had to wear a suit to an important meeting donated anyway,” McCormick says. “By having the collection jar and box at the reception desk, we encouraged people who had meetings with one of us to participate, too.”
An office communiqué was sent out weekly requesting certain types of non-perishable food, such as various canned meat one week, and then pasta and rice products the next.
“Having a theme each week ensured that we collected all the needed goods,” Taylor says. “We even asked for baby food one week to help young families, along with pet food to assist some elderly people who have dogs or cats as companions.”
Human Resources, along with employees at the John Molson School of Business, also collected toys for some of the youngsters who will have to spend this Christmas at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
The drive continues until mid-January with everyone invited to donate anything they would like on the 11th floor of the FB Building (1250 Guy St.).
Related links:
• Sun Youth Organization
• Human Resources
• Alumni & giving
• School of Extended Learning