How Canada’s Corporate Citizens Are Making A Difference In Blood Cancer Research

Mediaplanet: In your opinion, what are the fundamental values shared by organizations with successful community outreach programs or philanthropy?

Rob Edwards: What you have to value more than anything is fairness, respect, compassion, and support for folks going through tough times. These are the core values for us as a union and as an ally to our friends and neighbours in the community. For members in our union, the philanthropic drive is a natural extension of knowing that good things happen when folks stand together to make positive change where they work and where they live. It’s a belief that’s really driven their phenomenal decades-long philanthropy to raise awareness of blood cancers and to help find a cure.

Mediaplanet: In your experience, what role do younger employees or youth play in advancing community-focused initiatives?

Rob Edwards: Don’t believe the cynics who say young people only care about themselves. They care about their community and their work and are ready to show it when given the opportunity. Year in and year out, we’re thrilled to see the energy and commitment of teenagers and young adults to their union’s charity of choice and other community initiatives. They give their time during the charity fundraising season, and they also give from their pocket. But more than anything, they also give from their hearts. You see that each spring at hundreds of locations where they greet folks donating their bottle recycle deposits to the campaign. Many of these young workers also participate throughout the year in social justice initiatives to strengthen their communities.  

Mediaplanet: Can you speak to the importance of having an engrained corporate culture that recognizes philanthropy as a permanent component of a business?

Rob Edwards: We’re a workers’ organization, not a business, so our mission as a union is to support fairness and opportunity for members, their families and the community. Philanthropy, or giving back to the community, is a natural component of a culture that believes that everyone has the right to succeed, to fairness, and to knowing that that when you’re facing tough times, there are folks around you who are ready to lend a hand. These are principles that strengthen a workplace and have just as positive an impact in our neighbourhoods.

Mediaplanet: What are some key indicators that signify to an organization’s leadership that their colleagues are buying-in to corporate culture focused on giving back?

Rob Edwards: We’re fortunate as an organization that a philanthropic mission we set out on three decades ago was bolstered by the decision of our major employer to join in on the effort. The results have been profound for tens of thousands of Canadians, their families and the communities they live in. This is not a bottom line defined in dollars, but in lives saved, treatments improved, and the expectation that one day all blood cancers will be a thing of the past.

Mediaplanet: In your opinion, what are the fundamental values shared by organizations with successful community outreach programs or philanthropy?

Ted Moroz: I have always maintained that all successful organizations are guided by strong core values, and organizations that have strong core values and follow them will be successful. No matter what your business is, absolutely everyone can be a stakeholder of your business.  Customers and non-customers alike can rely on you to do what’s right for your local community, your regional community and the global community. The health and safety of our employees and customers is an extremely important core value along with environmental leadership and giving back to our communities, to name a few.

Mediaplanet: In your experience, what role do younger employees or youth play in advancing community-focused initiatives?

Ted Moroz: I have been so impressed with the young folks that are making their marks in our business today.  I believe in promoting internally, and it is so great to see so many of our young employees that are graduating from post-secondary educations and having immediate impacts on so many of our programs. Our new employees are savvy, creative, enthusiastic, and are providing significant positive boosts to the organization. It is wonderful to see how today’s 
youth are fitting in so well within our company and helping to make it better. 

Mediaplanet: Can you speak to the importance of having an engrained corporate culture that recognizes philanthropy as a permanent component of a business?

Ted Moroz: It’s important that companies give back to their communities in meaningful ways.  Helping others not only means donating money, but it can also mean getting involved in the local charity by volunteering time, or making helpful suggestions to enable the local charity to thrive. In my personal experience and through conversation with my co-workers, a person who helps others really feels good about what he or she has done and his or her contribution. When an organization can come together to do this on a grander scale, the effort becomes a rallying point for employees and their engagement levels skyrocket.

Mediaplanet: What are some key indicators that signify to an organization’s leadership that their colleagues are buying-in to corporate culture focused on giving back?

Ted Moroz: When other organizations see what companies are doing with their core values, they too, want to do good things within their own organizations. As an organization that has been focused on environmental sustainability and leadership for the past 88 years (I always say we were green before green was cool) it is always inspiring to me to receive requests from other CEO’s who want us to share our story and launch similar programs. In the past five years, more and more companies are getting on board with giving back to their communities as evidenced in TV, radio and print.