A buck a cheque adds up to a hefty contribution

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This article was published 17/11/2018 (2573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What good is giving a dollar a paycheque?

Ask Spencer Cottee. The warehouse manager asks new employees to give $1 per paycheque to the United Way.

The following year, he asks if they can spare a dollar more.

Cottee, who’s worked for Costco since 1990, says employees at the three city stores have raised $173,000, with the company kicking in 50 cents for every dollar donated. That’s added up to $260,000, which is invested into helping people in this city, including people who work at Costco and their families.

“A number have used the different (United Way-supported) organizations,” Cottee said. Some have been helped by women’s shelters, mental-health supports and services for children with disabilities, he said.

“Once you see it’s touching your own people, it gives you more of an incentive,” said Cottee, who has worked at all three city Costco stores.

“I feel that everyone needs to be cognizant that there are a multitude of social issue in all walks of life… Many different people need different support at different times,” he said.

Having steady employment with a decent wage helps.

“We have good stable jobs and careers here, and over 50 per cent of our employees have to be full-time employees,” Cottee said.

“In my opinion, when we have all that going for us, we have an obligation to the community,” he said. His co-workers show they feel the same way.

“We have generous employees… who want to make a difference because it is the right thing to do.”

Cottee has been asked by the United Way to speak to other workplaces about the big effect of asking for a small donation.

“You need to start small, and you need to get a small team of people working on this together,” he said.

“My easy campaign is for a dollar more. Start at one buck a (cheque): $26 a year. Discuss this as part of your new-hire orientation. If it becomes part of your culture to add that dollar a pay each year, the financial impact on your people is small, but the dollars will grow quickly year over year.”

United Way Winnipeg’s 2018 fundraising goal is $21 million. More than 600 workplaces in the city run internal fundraising drives, called workplace campaigns, to give people the opportunity to donate to Winnipeg’s community fund.

Every cent Winnipeggers donate goes back into the community, thanks to an operating grant from the provincial government that supports fundraising and administration costs.

Workplaces interested in running their own United Way Winnipeg campaign can email partnerwithus@unitedwaywinnipeg.mb.ca or call 204-924-4232.