A New Approach to Corporate Holiday Gift Giving

18 November 2020 - A challenging year makes it more important than ever to be supporting and serving our communities.

Normally, the R&Q offices would be filled with holiday decorations and buzzing with excitement as the holidays approach…but not this year. We’re all working from home, video chatting with our colleagues and clients who are also at home and making the best of the new “normal”. You won’t hear us complain though, because we’re healthy and so grateful to be warm, comfortable, and safe in our home offices. Unfortunately, this is not the case for so many people right now.

According to the Homelessness Research Institute, homelessness was already significantly on the rise before the COVID-19 pandemic. The institute reported in March that rising older adult homelessness was projected to steeply increase, unsheltered homelessness has grown by 22 percent over the past five years, and far too many Americans are severely housing cost-burdened and on the brink of homelessness. In an economic crisis, the loss of a job or hours at work could quickly lead to homelessness. [1]

These statistics are one of the many reasons that R&Q is so passionate about continuing our ongoing support of the Light of Life Rescue Mission, located near our corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. Every holiday season, R&Q participates in the mission’s Christmas ornament fundraising campaign. With a suggested donation of $25, the mission provides a beautiful Wendell August Christmas ornament designed by a participant of Light of Life Rescue Mission’s many incredible programs.

We know how much everyone in the office loves when the supplier gift baskets of chocolates, cheeses, and goodies begin to arrive. However, the feedback from our clients has been overwhelmingly wonderful since 2013 when we stopped sending gift baskets and instead began donating to the Christmas ornament fundraising campaign on behalf of our clients as a token of our gratitude.

With minimal clients and colleagues working in their corporate offices this year and the knowledge of the hardships this crisis has brought, a donation is the perfect gift and will be greatly appreciated! This year, R&Q will be donating $10,000 to this campaign in support of the mission’s efforts to help the homeless.

We hope that when it comes time to pick out holiday gifts for clients, colleagues, friends, and family, you will consider a donation on their behalf and a beautiful Christmas ornament when you donate to the Light of Life Rescue Mission’s Christmas ornament fundraising campaign. 

Happy holidays from our team to yours!

Lisa Casavant
R&Q Founder, EVP

Source:
[1] National Alliance to End Homelessness. Homelessness Research Institute. Research and Data. Accessed 11 November 2020. https://endhomelessness.org/