They're angels for the Angel Tree
Published Wednesday December 16th, 2009
Two local IT companies got in the spirit of the season recently, having fun as they raced against the clock to find some perfect gifts for the Fredericton Food Bank's Angel Tree.
Professional Quality Assurance Ltd. (PQA) and ACCREON enjoyed a bit of friendly competition on Friday, Dec. 4, as employees split up into teams and made a mad dash through the mall buying gifts for local families.
"It's all about giving back to the community and having fun," says Jenn Phillips, with the PQA social committee.
Last year, PQA did this on their own, says Keith McIntosh, president and CEO of PQA.
Everyone had such a great time that they wanted to make it an annual event, then they challenged ACCREON to be part of the fun.
"So we're going to see which company does the best shopping," he says, adding, "But everybody gets a prize at the end of it too."
The event is truly a win-win, as all the items purchased will go to the Fredericton Food Bank and some of the families it supports. The designated shoppers know what to look for thanks to lists compiled by the non-profit organization.
"The Fredericton Food Bank gives us a few target groups to buy for, perhaps a three-year-old girl or an eight-year-old boy, and we will send our employees out in search of items," explains McIntosh.
There were five shoppers from each company. Each got an age group, a boy or girl, suggested gifts, $200 in cash and 45 minutes to do their shopping and return to the starting point at centre court, says Phillips.
The shoppers take their duties seriously, says McIntosh, with some hitting the mall ahead of time to plot out their course and see where to go so they can get the best gifts.
"Each shopper has a helper or two, but each shopper has to do their own spending, they can't split off around the mall, they have to go together," he says, adding, "Everybody wants to get good stuff."
Community involvement is important to PQA. Aside from this, they raise money all year long to sponsor local families at Christmas.
"We've always done that," says McIntosh. "This is just something extra we wanted to do."
They invited ACCREON to take part as the companies work well together throughout the year.
"We have a good relationship with them, and they share the same values," he says, such as giving back to the community.
"I think it's important that people know that these companies and the people working at them are thinking about the community and how to help out and encourage that kind of giving in the season," he says. "It's not just about a 9-5 workday. You live here, you've got to take care of it."
Kent Murphy, business development with ACCREON, happily donned an elf hat and, with the help of his 17-year-old daughter Madisen, was ready to shop.
"We're very community focused. Everyone who works for ACCREON lives in the community and we're a very health-oriented, family-oriented organization," he says.
"It's important for us to be in the community because we're always hiring and recruiting, so it puts our name in the marketplace and let's people know who we are."
Taking part in an event like this is their way to give back, he says.
"We're very fortunate. We work in an industry where everybody is able to provide a good living, a good quality of life for their family. We realize that some people aren't so fortunate," says Murphy.
ACCREON jumped at the chance to join PQA in supporting the Fredericton Food Bank's Angel Tree.
"What a great way to get involved, create awareness and challenge others to do the same thing," he says. "We can all help. You don't have to be a 100-person organization to do that, you can help in a very small way."
As they are always up for a challenge, ACCREON chose their team based on a few important criteria, including, says Murphy, "Shopping experience, fitness and overall will to succeed."
Phillips helped to organize this year's event, but was one of the shoppers when PQA first did it last year.
The best part, she says, "was loading up the food bank truck at the end and seeing everything all together. You're putting in 10 cart loads of toys and you know that stuff is going to go to somebody who wouldn't have it unless we had this event."
Though it is a lot of work to pull it together, it does help put her in the spirit of the season, says Phillips.
"We do a lot of other things at PQA (as well), so the whole month is really Christmas for us," she says.
Following the success of this year's event, PQA and ACCREON are hoping to bring other companies into the challenge and make the event bigger and better than ever in 2010.
The Fredericton Food Bank would love to see that happen, as the gifts purchased are going to families in need in the community.
"We're doing over 700 children this year, so these gifts, why they're so great, is because they're not necessarily attached to an angel (on the Angel Tree)," says Elizabeth Crawford-Thurber, executive director of the Fredericton Food Bank.
"We have the ability to move them from child to child. So maybe we have some late families register. It gives us the resources to help get through the season."
The Angel Tree has been around since 1995 and people always respond well to it, happily choosing an angel and buying a gift for a child.
"It's getting almost to the point where we're running out of children," she says, with the last of the angels having already been added to the tree during the first week of December.
Not that it's too late to help out.
"We always need the little things, like stocking stuffers. We go through so many," says Crawford-Thurber.
When the program began in 1995, the goal was for each child to receive one new gift. Now they're getting three gifts, a larger one and two smaller ones.
She gets to see the families who are on the receiving end, and enjoy their reactions.
"A lot of tears, a lot of hugs and lots of thank-you cards come in," she says.
It means a lot, she says, as people are having a hard time this year.
"We're supposedly on the downside of the recession, last year we were in the recession and we're still in recovery," says Crawford-Thurber. "We won't see the affects of any improvement in our services for at least another year."
To learn more about the Fredericton Food Bank and find out what you can do to help, call 459-7461.
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