Ricoh Canada Inc. has been supporting the
Community-based non-profit organization
United Way to encourage employees to
contribute to their local community. The
project began in 1998 as the "United Way
Campaign." Since then, orientations have
been held for employees all over Canada
and donations collected.
Between October and December 2008,
pancake breakfasts, mini golf tournaments
and bowling competitions were held as part
of a campaign to collect donations and to
promote involvement of the employees.
As a result, the 2008 campaign involved
580 employees-about 65%-and raised a
total of 166,490 Canadian dollars (roughly
12.7 million yen) including the amount
matched by the company. The donations are
being used to support United Way's activities
that support children, women and the elderly
in the community and to help immigrants settle into new lives to name a few.
In addition, Ricoh Canada holds "Days
of Caring" twice a year to encourage
employees to participate in local community
activities. So far, employees have engaged
in various volunteer activities from
assisting with meals for the elderly to doing
gardening work at facilities supported by
United Way and working
at community centers.
As a result of 10 years
of continued support, the
company collected double
the amount of donations
in 2008 compared
with the first year of
the collaboration. The
activities have become
so well known in the
company that there are
no longer any employees
who are unfamiliar with
United Way. In the future,
the company plans to develop a framework to encourage more
employees to engage in activities that
contribute to their individual communities. |
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