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RSA Canada has always had a broad appetite in the P&C business, its most recent philanthropic endeavor demonstrates that it also has one for feeding hungry residents of the Greater Toronto Area.
In late November, the insurer’s Toronto office split into 18 teams and headed to the city’s Daily Bread Food Bank for the “Food Sort Challenge” – a competition that caused each group to sift through 3,000 pounds of food in less than two hours.
The company chose to sponsor the event based on its employee feedback of its altruistic initiatives.
“As part of our regional corporate responsibility strategy, every January, we get each of our offices across the country to vote for the top three causes or charities they want to support that year,” said Paula Bernardino, regional communications and corporate responsibility partner, RSA Canada. “At our head office in Toronto, the food bank was one of the charities they voted for in 2015.”
Since RSA has a longstanding relationship with Daily Bread, it decided to work with that organization in particular. In addition to raising $40,000, the food sort challenge also freed up an enormous number of “man-hours” that would have otherwise been required by its staff of volunteers.
“For participants, it was a fun and interesting competition, and we gave out prizes for first, second and third place,” Bernardino said. “But it also benefitted Daily Bread, since the food was sorted much more quickly than volunteers could typically do in one afternoon.”
In fact, the teams worked so quickly in attempting to secure first place, they completed the equivalent of 40 weeks of work, according to Bernardino.
RSA Canada’s other recent philanthropic events in the GTA include a week of fundraising for the SickKids Foundation and a day of preparing dinner for families in the Ronald McDonald house.
The carrier finds the popularity of these programs, coupled with the benefits it brings to the causes, encouraging.
“It really is a win-win for us both,” Bernardino said.
