Crystal Crusaders charge to Victory
Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4:37PM | Submitted By Karen Morgan A Shining example of Community Spirit
At its annual awards gala on April 14, the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce named the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation “Business of the Year—Non Profit.” To resounding applause from the audience in the Blue Poppy restaurant at The Butchart Gardens, the Foundation received the prestigious Crystal Award for Excellence for service to the community.
How fitting, then, that it was the community that had risen to the challenge of seeing the Foundation win the award!
The campaign was spearheaded by long-time Foundation supporter Fraser Smith of the Smith Manoeuvre. Never one to do things half-heartedly, Fraser set his sights high. “The Chamber asked for one letter of support to accompany each nomination. I thought, we can do better than that.”
Indeed they did. A group of “Crystal Crusaders” was recruited to spread the word and generate letters and emails from people across the Peninsula, whose lives had been touched by the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. A website called “It’s our hospital” was created, emails were sent, phone calls were made and the responses came roaring in.
In the few short weeks between the initial meeting on February 10th and the deadline for nominations on March 5th, the Crusaders gathered nearly 1,400 endorsements.
“It was just overwhelming,” laughs Fraser. “On the day of the deadline, we carried this enormous stack of paper into the Chamber offices. Fortunately, Chamber president John Treleaven happened to be in the office for the presentation and I think it made quite a convincing show of community support.”
They even took along a shredder. “We’d promised anonymity to endorsers, so after presenting the letters we shredded them on the spot – then took the paper to be composted. Nothing went to waste!”
Crystal ... backed with gold
Fraser believes in creating synergies by putting several initiatives together, so the campaign also encouraged supporters to contribute to the Foundation, in two very creative ways. “We had “It’s Our Hospital” buttons made up, and at the first meeting all 17 Crystal Crusaders learned they were buying their own button – for $100 each. So that got us off to a strong start with $1700.”
People were also encouraged to make pledges for endorsements. Much like fundraising walks or rides where supporters pledge an amount for a kilometre travelled, people pledged an amount for each endorsement received. With pledges amounting to almost $7 per endorsement, that raised another $8950.
The campaign raised $10,650 to accompany the award – quite impressive results for the Crystal Crusaders and Fraser Smith – the Foundation’s “knight in shining armour.”
Reader Comments