Building a more caring community

I think it’s important to give back, but it’s not about how much you give, it’s also about being invested.

Every year, the utility company where I work organizes a company-wide United Way campaign that runs across to all our affiliates. Since 2009, I’ve been volunteering my time as part of the company’s campaign.

There are two parts of it that really appeal to me. The first is that the committee comes together like a family. The second is that United Way is so strongly rooted in all of our local communities. That’s important to me. United Way reflects my values and I feel that it’s such an important organization to support.

In my day-to-day position, I lead a call centre team that responds to customers across the province. One of the most difficult situations I deal with is working with customers who are struggling to keep up with paying their power bills. I can recall a particular situation where two elderly customers reached out to us. They lived in a rural community and their only income was their monthly pension.

I was able to connect them with another local organization that helped pull funds together to get their account restored and came up with a financial plan that would work for them.

Over the course of two years, that plan helped the pair to get rid of their debt and to live independently in their own home.

I’m proud that I could be of assistance—and that’s the kind of thing I encourage my team to do through our United Way campaign. If any of them want to help the community, I help make it happen.