Charity and fundraising
From 2019 to 2021 I worked at Starbucks in Toronto, Ontario where I held the position of charity event planner and community organizer. Through this role I ran fundraisers and donation drives for shelters and organizations of my choosing within my neighbourhood. For each of the events I set up information and donation tables, made graphic posters with information about the event, and ran the promotion on the cafes instagram page which I also managed.
women’s shelter
Domestic abuse against women saw a rise in numbers since covid-19 lockdown procedures took place in 2020, resulting in local women’s shelters reaching full capacity while also having minimal resources. I got into contact with a local women’s shelter in need of supplies and donations. I set up an information table along with a large donation basket and list of items that were needed by the shelter, making it convenient for people to donate.
On the poster I wrote local 24 hour help lines for anyone walking into the store who may need to use it. When designing this poster i wanted to make it simple and colour coordinated while getting the main point across.
Halton Women’s Shelter Link: https://haltonwomensplace.com/
Alternative Poster:
List of what to donate:
period poverty
I decided to team up with location organization, Milton Community Resource Centre’s Period Poverty Initiative, to collect donations of unused, packaged sanitary pads, tampons, and mensural cups. I also created an option for people to make a donation through period poverty’s website.
I decided to get the community involved in contributing to this specific initiative because 1 in 4 women do not have access to basic feminine hygiene products due inaccessibility and cost.
It is important to actively help to diminish the stigma surrounding menstruation and acknowledge that period poverty is a real issue. All women deserve to have their time of the month as safely as possible.
Period Poverty Link: https://mcrc.on.ca/periodpovertyinitiative/
The Darling home for kids
For Christmas I decided run a toy drive with local organisation, The Darling Home for Kids.
The Darling Home for Kids provides residential and hospice care services for children who are medically complex, many of whom suffer from progressive illness.
“Medically fragile children receive wonderful care in a beautiful, warm and home-like environment, which provides comfort and a break to families facing the daily challenges of caring for a child with complex medical needs. Families are supported in knowing that there is a continuum of care from respite through to palliation and, when needed, end of life care.” - The Darling Home for Kids
For the toy drive I made the donation table layout festive, eye catching, and informative. Adding culturally neutral holiday decorations, informative graphics, and clear donation instructions. The information contained answers to questions about the organization such as, who they are, what they do, and where the donations will go. I also promoted this event throughout the drives run time on our cafes social media account.
The charity table was placed strategically near the entrance of the cafe and the serving counter, so the customers could view the table while they wait for their coffee orders to be fulfilled.
For this charity drive to gain more donations I decided to make the event interactive for the community, adding the element of a raffle prize. Anyone who made a toy donation was able to enter their name and information into a box for the chance to when a Starbucks gift basket and gift card. Then at the end of the drive we picked out the winning name.
We received an overwhelming amount of toys for this drive. So much so that we ran out of room within the cafe to house the donations. We ended up filling roughly 14 large sized moving boxes of donations. This was definitely my most successful donation drive yet.
Organisation Link: https://www.darlinghomeforkids.ca/
saving grace animal society
For our spring fundraiser I choose Saving Grace Animal Society: an animal shelter and surgery doing life saving work that relies entirely on support from donors.
For this fundraiser we accepted cash donations only, whereas in the past for our charity drives we accepted physical items as donations for organisations. This is why I displayed as much information as possible about the charity and where the donors money will go.
I added the donation link on the poster and also put out a secure money box on the table for cash donations. I also added informational posters about the organisation to inform and encourage potential donors.
By the end of spring we had reached our fundraising goal of $500.
Organisation Link: https://www.savinggracecanada.com/
