There are a ton of great organizations in our community doing important work, and every year we like to show our support by making a donation on behalf of our employees.
Winter coats ready for pick-up at a local elementary school, thanks to donations to Victoria Coats for Kids.
This year, we chose to give to the Victoria Coats for Kids Association, a long-standing registered non-profit that gives winter coats and other cold-weather items like toques, gloves, boots, and mittens to children in need. For every employee (that’s 35, at last count!) we donated a coat to a local child, helping them stay warm this winter.
If you live in Victoria, you may already be familiar with Victoria Coats for Kids and their annual “Coats on the Bus” winter coat drive. Every October, they park a big yellow school bus in a mall parking lot and invite people to bring their new and gently-used winter wear and “fill the bus” with donations. Last year, volunteers received 523 coats, exceeding their orders from schools and community agencies by more than 100! (The balance of coats were donated to the Mustard Seed.)
School bus parked at Hillside Mall during last year’s Victoria Coats for Kids winter coat drive.
We are pleased to be able to support Victoria Coats for Kids, as well as a number of other worthy causes in our local (and international!) community. Here are a few of the ways our company and employees have given back over the years:
- We are a supporter of local triathlete Lauren Babineau, funding her training, travel, and equipment costs.
- We donated solar kits to a family in Mexico via our legacy business, Go Power.
- Many of our employees donate United Way of Greater Victoria through payroll deduction donations.
- Last summer, a team of Carmanah empoyees banded together to clean up garbage along the E&N Rail Trail, a paved pedestrian/bike path that runs beside a suspended rail line near our office.
- This year, we are looking forward to participating in Our Place’s Sponsor-a-Meal corporate program, which involves delivering a hot meal to our community’s most vulnerable citizens.