Each year, Family & Children’s Agency (FCA) hosts holiday events for clients sponsored by generous corporations and donors in the community. From parties for children to a holiday bazaar where clients can “shop” for basic care needs at no cost, these events bring our community together and create special holiday memories. In 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions. our holiday plans had to change, but the feeling of community could not be stronger.
Thanks to their flexibility and commitment, several corporate partners shifted their employee campaigns from donations of items that would be challenging for FCA staff to distribute to monetary donations used to purchase gift cards for groceries and other necessities. The cards were distributed to clients in need who used them to support their families and relieve stress during this difficult time. In total, our corporate partners contributed more than $6,300 in gift cards which helped 300 families.
These types of partnerships demonstrate the kind of opportunities companies can provide for their employees to give back while meeting their corporate social responsibility goals. In addition, even during challenging times, many in the community want to help their neighbors and appreciated the opportunity to do so through their employer. Aircastle (Stamford), FactSet (Norwalk), Campbell Snacks (Norwalk), and Tauck (Wilton) all provided their employees with links to easily donate money for gift cards. In addition, FactSet and Campbell Snacks generously matched the donations made by their employees to double the impact of their support.
“We are grateful to our corporate partners for caring about their community and empowering their employees to support their neighbors. FCA is proud to provide a way for companies to achieve their social responsibility goals while making a real difference in the lives of those we serve,” said Robert F. Cashel, President & CEO of Family & Children’s Agency.
“FCA allows us to build meaningful connections and directly impact families in our local community. Our relationship with FCA has added a tremendous value to our Community Action Team, as we are able to partner closely with them to identify the exact needs of their families and children. It has been such a great pleasure working with FCA – they make it easy for our company to get involved and we feel like we are making a genuine difference,” said Brooke Call of Aircastle (Stamford).
“Each year, FactSet employees look forward to participating in our annual holiday gift drive because every family deserves a special holiday season. Particularly in this most challenging year, we believe that it was important to help our neighbors in need. Our employees stepped up to help families by providing more than $4,700 in gift cards for FCA clients this year. We are grateful for our continued partnership with FCA because it allows us to give back and strengthen our local community. We look forward to what we can accomplish together in 2021,” said Lisa Gleason, Senior Corporate Responsibility Manager, FactSet (Norwalk).