Tbaytel's Newsroom

All the tings going on at Tbaytel

Tbaytel Newsroom

rss

Keep up with everything happening at Tbaytel

Tbaytel staff rushed dozens of boxes filled with food across warehouse tables in Thunder Bay’s Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA) on Wednesday. With the help and supervision of the RFDA, this fast-paced packing was part of staff volunteer efforts for the fourth day of Tbaytel’s annual 12 Days of Christmas campaign. The campaign combines the work of employees and their authorized dealers to surprise individuals and organizations with gifts, meals, free gas, donations and fun activities throughout Northwestern Ontario.

Kaitlin Gaspar, the public relations communication coordinator for Tbaytel, helped pack up the RFDA donations. She said Tbaytel brought the boxes from their lunchrooms at all their Tbaytel locations. “We had our Tbaytel vehicle all filled up. We got those on the forklift and we now have an assembly line,” said Gaspar. “So, the RFDA staff have told us which boxes, which items go in, so that’s what we’re doing right now is stocking everything.”

Since 2015, Tbaytel has been giving back through the holiday season through an ever-changing series of events. This year, Gaspar said they had already raised 700 kilograms of food donations from staff, which they later topped up. “It’s really great to give back to the community and we know that food insecurity is huge here in the community right now. So, it’s one thing that we can do,” said Gaspar.

It is not the first day she has participated in the campaign since its launch on Dec. 1. “It’s been really great. Like I said, it’s day four. The rest of the days are a surprise. So, you’ll have to follow along on our social media because we post each day what we do,” said Gaspar.

Volker Kromm, the executive director at the RFDA, also participated in the warehouse efforts. He said it’s a great partnership with Tbaytel because they have the same regional footprint and the focus is about community. “I just think it’s a natural fit. The Regional Food Distribution Association is really about feeding the community and Tbaytel is all about supporting the community and those people in the region as well,” said Kromm.

However, this year, he said there has been such an increase that it has become challenging for the RFDA to meet their goals. “We’re finding that with food prices and people not being able to donate as much, we’re really struggling to make this thing happen,” said Kromm. So, he said they were fortunate to be selected as one of the benefactors in the program. “They brought their entire staff and I think that’s the important part,” said Kromm. “They’re going to be our forerunners for the program because after they’ve figured out how to do this --what the hampers look like -- we’re going to be bringing in scores of groups between now and the 13th when they all go out, that’s when the big push is to deliver.”

Kromm added that it is also very stressful to meet their goals of quality distribution and making sure they have ‘some really good food going in this year.’ “We spent a lot more money, and that’s made to ensure that everyone has access to a really healthy Christmas for the holidays,” said Kromm. He said they asked Tbaytel to bring in the basics, including canned vegetables, canned fruit, pancake mix, margarine, and simple things they can provide for people waking up Christmas morning or during the holidays.

He said they will offer foods like kraft dinner that are ‘always a favourite with kids’ and sometimes add cookies. “The cookies were baked here by the schools that came in and volunteers. So, yeah, there’s always a little bit of, you know, human interaction that gets added to the package. Sometimes there’s even candies,” said Kromm. Kromm said their holiday hampers mainly help single seniors and couples, as well as people who don’t fit into the regular Christmas cheer program.

These giveaways and events will continue until Dec. 12. Tbaytel hinted their next event will be outside.

View the full article here: https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/tbaytel-staff-give-back-through-12-days-of-christmas-campaign-9907365 

View the video here: https://www.tbnewswatch.com/tbt-news-stories/video-tbaytel-helps-rfda-during-12-days-of-christmas-initiative-9908935



Comments are closed.
Rendered by:WWW-C01-PRD-01.