Molson in the Community

Ah, back at it after an Easter weekend break with family and friends. Easter sometimes is that true bridge to spring; not quite this year in Toronto, given our below zero temperatures continuing. Enough of that…

Easter is also a time of year when one (this one anyway) reflects on all the great things that we have as we celebrate with family and friends around us. After 29 years in the beer business I’ve come to realize that this industry of ours is one of deep community roots and involvement.

When I look back at my early years as a summer representative in Northern Ontario my whole focus was on community. From visiting tourist resorts along wooded gravel roads, to slo pitch and fast ball tournaments with men and women across the northwest of Ontario, to the Jeux Canada Games in Thunder Bay in 1981 and again in Sherbrooke in 2103,  to door prizes for local charitable events…it was all about supporting our community.

Beer in Canada is part of our social fabric (it likely is where you are too but I can really only speak with authority on Canada). Molson Coors has continued to play our part in supporting events, festivals, entertainment and sports related events big and small from coast to coast to coast.

The range of community action is broad and deep, large and small. From proud official beer supplier of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, to a Red Leaf project park in Calgary, to the Mayor’s Ball for the Arts in Edmonton or support of CFL clubs across the country including the Saskatchewan Rough Riders – Calgary Stampeders – Edmonton Eskimos, or a responsible choice initiative like free New Years buses in Winnipeg, to our partnered NHL clubs Edmonton Oilers – Toronto Maple Leafs – Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens and the NHL overall in North America, to the families of our fallen military and the True Patriot Love committee, to community festivals speckled across Quebec or the Pointe-A-Caillieer museum project in Old Montreal, the Maison de Jeunes de Dieppe, the amateur hockey movement in Prince Edward Island, the Halifax Oval or scholarships at Memorial University in St. John’s, to slo-pitch and local sports or perhaps a snapshot of your favourite moment in the great provincial territories that crown this country in Molson Canadian’s “make your mark” contest.

We are also proud to support our employees and the difference that they continue to make in their communities. We match their donations through our Molson Coors Donations Fund and will “double match” when they play an executive role for charity or not for profit organization. We also afford our employees with the opportunity to share their passion with fellow employees by posting their efforts in our internal social Cheers network on yammer. We have a long roster of employees committed to various charitable causes.

So, all this said, Molson Coors folks are part of an industry that continues to play a big part in our community. It is core to our business. When people come together to celebrate or make a difference in their community they can also toast their efforts with a nice cold Molson Coors. Proudly, it all dates back to our founder John Molson who was quoted while speaking to employees saying, “we are all members of a larger community, which depends on everyone playing a part.”

So cheers to beer folks across this great land that continue to play their part in our community. It’s a big part of who we are and a big part of what we love doing in the beer business. Cheers ! @MolsonFerg

Greetings for 2013 from the Molson Coors Community Blog. @MolsonFerg here. based in Canada. I’ve been involved with this blog in one way shape or form from its start back in 2007. We tended to speak all things community in Canada and have enjoyed being engaged and involved with so many of our community partners and projects through the blog. It has also been a great platform for our employees to shout out or for us to shout out about the great work that our employees do in their communities. We migrated “location” of the blog to the Molson Coors central web site a year ago. Since then I must admit that the Canadian team has held back on some of our posts, given that they might have felt just a little to Canada centric. Given that our audience now is more global, we felt we needed to be more selective of what we posted, so as not to cause too much spam like content on the blog. We are now in the midst of talking amongst the team on how we are going to utilize the blog to continue to tell stories about community and Molson Coors efforts across our business around the world in areas of corporate responsibility and community engagement.We call this Our Beer Print. SO…we would love to hear from you on what you find interesting, appealing, informing or intriguing by way of this blog. Thanks for taking the time to post some thoughts here or back at me on Twitter or via email. Thanks for your continued interest in Molson Coors and all things beer. Cheers to a great week. @MolsonFerg

…for many years along the path where we walk our dog behind Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, a small tree was decorated with festive bobbles and ornaments. Then suddenly one year there was a note near the tree advising that it would be the final year that the tree would be decorated. We could only imagine that the folks were moving on, or that a kindred senior soul was just finding it too difficult to navigate the woods and present this annual wonder to the community. A year passed and then my wife decided that we had to continue on this local tradition. So…our neighbours with us at dusk a couple of weeks back, decorated this small lonely tree along the path behind Sunnybrook. We hope that it will bring joy, reflection, smiles, hope and a sense of community to passers by. May this season bring much joy and a new year that is full of peace and harmony. Perhaps a lonely tree in the woods will help people think of how each of us can work to make this world a better place. Cheers to the Season. The very best to you and your community, your family, friends and a stranger passing by who might just gain a smile. @MolsonFerg

I received an email from former Molson Coors employee Michael Coss this week, pointing me to page three of a newsletter by the Brain Injury Association of Canada. My words or paraphrasing just wouldn’t do it justice. So I’ve cut and pasted Michael’s story to share with you here. It’s story of courage and determination. In many ways a miracle and an example of what can happen when a community gets behind a person in a time of need. Enjoy reading about this great come back. Cheers.

My name is Michael Coss and I suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident on May 18th, 2006 which left me in a COMA for 6
+ months. After doing some research on the internet, my parents undertook Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for me and it worked, I awoke from my 6 +
month COMA, after 3 treatments of this therapy. I relearned the most basic skills, things that we all take for granted like how to eat, use the washroom, dress myself, and now I’m re-learning how to walk again at 43 years of age. I feel that I am a better person after my injury, and I appreciate all the fundraising efforts that were done by my family members, my friends, my co-workers, my former customers in my Molson Coors Canada days, to raise some money for so that I may undertake this alternative type of therapy. In my rehab, I started my own Foundation, www.secondchancestepbystep.org,
I wrote my own book to inspire others to be the best that they can be in their own personal situations, called The Courage to Come Back, to educate
the general public about the potential benefi ts of Hyperbaric Oxygen for treating brain injuries. It’s available at www.amazon.ca, www.barnesandnoble.com, and can be ordered also from all Chapter’s/ Indigo locations across Canada. All the proceeds raised from the sale of my book will be re-directed to The Michael Coss Brain Injury Foundation to help improve the quality of lives of children who have also suffered a traumatic brain injury by assisting them undergo HBOT treatments. I wrote my own book using my laptop, typing letter by letter, word by word, and page by page and it was released and made available on the 5 year anniversary of my injury, May 18th, 2011. I experienced something very powerful, magical, and uplifting on Thursday May 17th, when I was presented with The Courage to Come Back Award in the physical rehabilitation category. This was in front of 1000 attendees at The Vancouver Trade and Convention Center where invited guests paid $250.00 to attend this special evening, have dinner, and hear the remarkable stories of 6 individuals who have all had The Courage to Come Back from some kind of adversity. This award gives me the drive, focus, determination, to give 120 % to my rehab, whether it be improving my speech, or improving my walking ability, step by step, so that I may return to a more “normal” way of life amongst my family, my children. I am so proud to receive this award, and I would like to say in closing “All things are possible when you believe”. In closing, I would like to THANK everyone for giving me a second chance at life by organizing and holding various fundraising iniatives throughout Canada which permitted my father to undergo HBOT treatments for me, my sincere THANKS

During a wonderful walk along the Kay Gardner Belt Line early this morning in Toronto, it was great to see that so many must have been active yesterday in taking Mayor Rob Ford’s challenge to “clean up” the city, one person, one piece of debris at a time. There were several bags of refuse and other items for the City workers to claim on Monday. It’s truly great when a community comes together for such a great cause.

With today being Earth Day I thought it appropriate to draw attention to what we refer to as “Our Beer Print” at Molson Coors. I did a recent blog post for Sustainable brands on this unique effort with our employees.

Essentially “Our Beer Print” is all about shrinking the negative and growing the positive impact of our business. Our focus remains on water – alcohol respect and community. However we encourage people to think about sustainability and “Our Beer Print” in all that they do, from producing our quality beers to reuse of our industry standard bottle and recycling our packaging.

@BrewerBart – Bart Alexander our Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer for Molson Coors, was recently interviewed about “Our Beer Print”. Bart’s interview provides a terrific picture of what “Our Beer Print” means to Molson Coors and our people. It’s fun, engaging, rewarding and highly visible to our people, and to those with whom we do business. Corporate Responsibility has also showed up as a great motivator in engaging our employees across our businesses around the globe. With such a deep history in each of the countries we operate, corporate responsibility continues to be part of our day to day “DNA” for our people and our operations. Whether its our commitment to water, our community involvement, or the continued promotion of our fine quality products in a responsible manner…it’s all part of our ongoing journey in corporate responsibility. Cheers to you and what you are doing wherever you may live, work and play. Happy Earth Day !  @MolsonFerg

Molson M Turning Tweets into Art

Do you love the arts? If so, Molson M has a unique opportunity for those in Twitterville to BE the art with its new campaign to support Canadian Art Foundation.

Here’s how it works: Over the next four weeks, the brand is asking all twitterers over Legal Drinking Age to use the hashtag #MolsonM_Art in their tweets. Each use of the hashtag will trigger a $1 donation to the Canadian Art Foundation, and get your twitter handle painted onto a giant outdoor mural in downtown Toronto.

“The goal of this project is to celebrate artistry and mastery. Whether it’s paint to canvas, chisel to stone or pen to paper, artistry is a beautiful blend of precision and passion. Molson M is made with this level of care and it represents our mastery of brewing,” says Dave Bigioni, Senior director of Marketing at Molson Coors Canada. “With this project, art lovers, beer drinkers, passers-by – any Canadian – can play a real part in bringing art to life and showing their support for art in Canada.”

“The Canadian Art Foundation provides a destination for artists and art enthusiasts to connect and be inspired by art. The Molson M collaborative approach to art does just that,” says Ann Webb, Executive Director of the Canadian Art Foundation. “The mural will be a wonderful mix of global and Canadian artistic talent, and the generous support of Molson M will help us carry on our work to nurture more local, national and global visibility for the extraordinary artistic talent in Canada.”

Those who participate can start looking for their handles on the 40-feet-high by 100-feet-wide painted mural at the corner of King and Church streets in the next week or so.

Tweet away ! Cheers. @MolsonFerg

Un petit geste de 2,000$ de Molson Coors qui fera définitivement une grande différence pour nos militaires canadiens blessés au combat en leur permettant de reprendre de l’activité physique et la tranquillité d’esprit par la pêche à la mouche. 

Le Projet des Eaux curatives par la pêche à la mouche du Canada est dévoué à la réadaptation physique et émotionnelle des soldats canadiens, vétérans et canadiens blessés. Il vise l’enseignement des principes de la pêche à la mouche et la fabrication de mouches. Ce programme de niveau nationnal, promouvoit la qualité plutôt que la quantité. L’an passé, 15 soldats ont bénéficié du programme. Cette année, l’organisation prévoit au moins le même nombre.

Cette initiative, mise sur pied par la Base canadienne de Val Cartier, est également ouverte à tous les Canadiens-es qui souffrent de traumatismes tant physiques qu’émotionnels. 

Bravo pour cette belle initiative et pour avoir réussi à rassembler des centaines de personnes autour de ce magnifique projet.

Cheers!