Molson in the Community

Photo L-R: Kevin T. Boyce, President and CEO, Molson; Clare Archibald, Executive Director, Moncton Headstart;Peter Johnson, President of Moncton Headstart; Mayor George LeBlanc, Mayor of Moncton

President and CEO of Molson in Canada, Kevin Boyce, joined with colleagues in Moncton earlier today to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Moncton Molson Brewery opening with a $15,000 cheque to Headstart. This money will be dedicated to the Headstart Food Box program this holiday season and will benefit 200 families in the Moncton area.

Clare Archibald from Moncton Headstart spoke about last year’s total of 1700 food boxes that would have provided food to over 3700 people. Archibald is hopeful that Molson’s efforts will encourage other corporations and individuals to provide support for this worthwhile cause.

Kevin Boyce spoke about the inspiration that he felt when touring the Headstart kitchen during last year’s brewery opening festivities. Moncton Mayor George LeBlanc was also on hand and as a past president of Moncton Headstart he spoke about the impact that this food box initiative has on families who are receiving this kind of support.

Molson has a long standing heritage and history of supporting the greater community. Kevin Boyce spoke about the company and the pride that Molson employees have in being involved in their communities.

If you would like to support Moncton Headstart you can visit www.monctonheadstart.com to lend your support to this worthy initiative.

Part of our A-team in Toronto: Will Forbes, National Chair, Judy McClelland, National Executive Coordinator, Drew Stevenson,  Ontario Chair

I’m often amazed by what people can accomplish when they work together, and this year’s United Way campaign at Molson is one of those moments of awe.  Along with many other companies across Canada, we held our internal 2008 Molson United Way campaign for three weeks in October. This was my first year being part of the campaign as a Molson employee, and I was *seriously* blown away by the efforts of everyone.

I’ve been planning to write about the campaign in detail for a few days, and I’ve now got all the results, all the pics and all the videos — so here it is:

Our 2008 United Way campaign launched October 15th where, (here at 33 Carlingview in Toronto), employees gathered together in the cafe for the kick off.  Bob Duff, a very inspiring United Way volunteer and the Manager of  St. Simon’s Shelter in Toronto took the time to share his United Way story and really helped us understand the impact that United Way can have — Thanks Bob.

A team of ambassadors were put to the test to come up with some great activities to engage and excite employees about the campaign.  Let me tell you — these guys did an AMAZING job.  We had online auctions, a 50/50 draw, casino night, a Halloween party, beer bingo, beer carts, jeans week, CN tower climb….even a hair-growing challenge.

From the internal pledges alone, Molson employees pledged $154,000 — a 10% increase over last year. From special events, over $107,000 — an increase of 77% over last year!

In addition to the internal activities, many Molson’ers volunteered their time for the United Way’s Days of Caring series (read more Days of Caring from Ferg).

Photo: Days of Caring — Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, Toronto: Employees educated schoolchildren about the health benefits of trees in urban environments and the simple steps for proper tree care, while also helping to mulch & water trees in schools and parks.

Video: Will Forbes, Molson United Way National Chair

Simon Brockett in Calgary getting his head shaved for United Way

The beer cart boys in Toronto…sorry guys, couldn’t resist!

In total, with pledges, special events, corporate donations, and Molson’s matching gift program, Molson raised just over $610,000 for the United Way — an increase of 15% from 2007.

I had some conversations recently with friends who work in the non-profit sector who have said, yes, we are worried that people won’t be able or willing to give during these tough times, and it’s true — it will be more difficult to give, but it’s still possible.  I saw this possibility become a reality when Molson employees took the challenge, reached AND surpassed goals….while having a great time!

What do you think?  Will your giving habits change while we go through tough financial times?

Tell us about your United Way efforts….share you stories and photos — we’d love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Tonia

Molson is proud to advise that we are now on the All Top on line magazine rack. You will find Molson under the Blog Council companies as well as under BEER…imagine that !  We continue to keep telling our stories about Molson in the Community, whether that’s about our employees volunteering, charitable partnerships, not for profit associations, sponsorships or just great storie about our brands and people connecting with people in the greater community. And…we’d love to hear from you about what you’d like to hear about from Molson. Cheers !

Photo L - R: Steve Dykeman, Regional Manager NB/PEI, Molson; Jean-François Damphousse Director of Hockey Administration, Dieppe Commandos

The giving continued on Sunday when I presented a $10,000 donation to the Dieppe Commandos Education Fund at the team’s home game.  These funds will go to help members of the Maritime Junior A team offset their education costs if they achieve pre-determined academic goals.

This is our third year of the partnership and we are proud of our association with this great organization.  They will be hosting the Fred Page Cup in 2009 and we will be behind them all the way.

The Molson Maritime team rolled up its sleeves at Food Depot Alimentaire in Moncton for our United Way Day of Caring. Food Depot Alimentaire is an organization that supports and services over 20 food banks, community kitchens and agencies in southeastern New Brunswick. They do great work and have been a charitable partner of Molson for a few years now. When we arrived we encountered pallets of food that needed to be unpacked, sorted and repacked for distribution to food banks across southeastern New Brunswick. In true Molson style, we took the task and made quick work of the challenge.  What a great feeling to be part of a team that approaches everything with such passion.
This weekend the Molson team is celebrating our first anniversary of our Moncton brewery with more charitable activities so stay tuned…