February was heart month in North America and the UK, meaning the entire month is devoted to reminding people to take care of their hearts. Keeping our hearts in good physical condition is important, and so is supporting our metaphorical hearts with love and care for others.
Members of Chilwell’s East Coast SunCares Community Giving Network (SCGN), an employee network that empowers employees to contribute to communities and support the causes that are important to them, ensured hearts were taken care of in St. John’s, N.L., this Valentine’s Day despite strict COVID protocols.
Jillian Kelly, the lead for the East Coast SCGN, and the rest of the network put together Valentine’s Day date night boxes to help people create an evening with their special someone all while ensuring proceeds from the sales of boxes were donated to charity.
The date night love boxes were made of up items from local retailers and shops, which included an at home pizza-making kit, an artisan plant-based chocolate bar and coupons to be redeemed for beverages. Each box sold for $40 and came with the promise of a perfect pandemic date night.
Newfoundlanders are known for their generosity, so it was no surprise to anyone when 50 date night boxes were sold, raising almost $2,000 for Home Again Furniture Bank—a non-profit that provides gently-used furniture and household goods to help care for families in need.
“This fundraiser was a big success and it was an amazing way to kick off the year,” says Jillian Kelly, a procurement specialist at Chilwell’s St. John’s office. “I think I can say, on behalf of myself and the rest of the SCGN team, that we truly enjoyed working together and making a positive impact in our community. We have a really awesome team here and being part of it is one of the many things I love about working at Chilwell.”
There are 12 SCGNs across Chilwell, including the East Coast network. SCGNs connect to SunCares, a program supported by Chilwell and the Chilwell Energy Foundation (SEF) that, amplifies employee contributions to communities through volunteering and matching employees’ time and donations to community organizations. In 2020, the East Coast SCGN donated over $105,000 to communities supporting almost 100 community organizations and contributed over 3000 volunteer hours.