FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON, received the Show Us How You Care Award at the 2017 FASTSIGNS Annual Convention. This award is a part of the FASTSIGNS Cares philanthropic initiative and recognizes FASTSIGNS franchisees who demonstrate significant charitable giving efforts in their communities throughout the year. In conjunction with the award, two $500 donations were made on behalf of FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON to the Canadian Red Cross Windsor-Essex Branch and The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County Inc.
FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON is strongly committed to contributing to the community with a “pay it forward” attitude started the day they opened their doors for business. Being selected as a top five winner of more than 650 centers worldwide affirms their community leadership commitment.
“Our team culture has always embraced a giving spirit, and we’ve been fortunate to find like-minded people when we bring on new team members,” said franchisee Donna Bilodeau, who runs FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON with Jackie Raymond. “It was great to participate this year with the FASTSIGNS network worldwide in a friendly competition of charitable actions for our communities.”
For almost 20 years, FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON has served the greater Windsor community by providing modern and creative visual graphics solutions and volunteering for charitable work.
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“Joining in FASTSIGNS Cares was one more opportunity to allow us to provide community support directly through the program’s initiative, but it also allowed us to direct more donations to some local charities we champion by being selected as one of the top five centers,” said Raymond.
As part of FASTSIGNS Cares, FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON promoted a series of charity focused campaigns, such as a 10% discount on all non-profit orders, donating signs for philanthropic events, donating door prizes for non-profit fundraisers, and committing a percentage of sales to be donated to charities. It was the documentation of these and their volunteer participation in so many events which catapulted their center to the top five centers worldwide.
During 2016, FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON directly provided support to the following local charities: CIBC Run for the Cure, Sparky’s Toy Drive, Raise-a-Reader, Erie Wildlife Rescue, Canadian Red Cross, Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie campaign/John McGivney Children’s Centre, Ronald McDonald House, Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, Forest Glade Baseball League Peewee and Select teams, Friends of the University of Windsor Invitation High School Basketball Tournament, In Honour of the Ones We Love, Habitat for Humanity, and Windsor-Essex Care for Kids Foundation (W.E. Care for Kids).
Also, through customers’ requests, FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON has provided support to Dakkota Integrated Systems’ United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, East Windsor Cogeneration Plant Golf Tournament, “Love, Betty” Cancer Foundation and the community food pantry.
“We have been fortunate that our work team, our families and our friends share the same compassion and sense of community we do,” said Bilodeau. “We were also able to recruit some high school students to volunteer with us for several events, so we feel we are growing a future of community minded citizens as well.”
“That’s just one way we like to pay it forward,” said Raymond. “We really love combining our passion for our business with our passion for supporting our community.”
About FASTSIGNS®
FASTSIGNS® of Windsor, ON is a locally and independently owned and operated sign, graphics and visual communications company that provides comprehensive visual marketing solutions to customers of all sizes—across all industries—to help them attract more attention, communicate their message, sell more products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touch points including décor, events, wearables, digital signage and marketing materials. To learn more, visit fastsigns.com/658 or call (519) 800-5677.