The Challenge

Develop and manage a year-round employee engagement program to support Amex Canada’s goal to positively impact social and environmental conditions in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, and Montreal. The intended outcome was to increase the capacity of charitable organizations to serve their clients.

The Solution

In coordination with Amex Canada’s Public Affairs department, Volunteer Canada developed the framework and activities of the Canada-wide “Serve2Gether” program and provided year-round management. This included: the creation of a Serve2Gether Volunteer Ambassador Committee, supporting the volunteer ambassadors to lead recruitment activities, scoping and validating a list of approved charities, liaising with charitable organizations to design volunteering opportunities, logistical coordination, management during events and activities, and ongoing program impact evaluation through gathering feedback from charities and employees.

The Results

Over 2.5 years, Volunteer Canada organized 48 projects, mostly structured as small team opportunities, creating 1,187 volunteering opportunities for Amex Canada employees in three cities. Volunteers supported charities working to improve accessibility issues, animal welfare, the environment, food security, affordable housing and women’s support services. Popular activities included completing StopGap ramps that provide accessibility into street-level businesses and packaging thousands of fresh produce items at FoodShare for delivery to schools for their breakfast programs. Activities usually involved facilitated discussion and reflection to advance employee understanding of community issues.