Drive to 125
Posted Apr 18, 2012 10:13:09 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Manulife Financial is encouraging Canadians to collectively pledge 125,000 hours of volunteer work.
The “Drive to 125” is a social media campaign which strives to get Canadians to lend a hand for causes near and dear to their hearts. There is a “Get Volunteering” Facebook page set up, where you can pledge the number of hours you plan to invest from now until December 5th. The Assistant Vice President of Philanthropy and Sponsorship at Manulife, Jeronimo De Miguel tells 570News, their goal is for you to tell them who you would like to volunteer with, then make a pledge, “Which essentially means that they’re making a commitment not only to us but also to their many friends that are actually on Facebook, and in doing so there’s a sense of commitment to the actual pledge which is kind of a neat viral opportunity.”
This campaign is part of a much larger effort by Manulife, which is celebrating 125 years, to get people to lend a hand. The recent Canadian Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating indicated that less than half of all Canadians volunteered between 2007 and 2010, “I think a lot of it has to do with the mismatch between what a volunteer is looking for and what an organization has to offer, and so we set out to work with Volunteer Canada, to make sure we can address that”, said De Miguel.
The way “Drive to 125” is addressing that problem is by getting people who are interested to fill out an application where you can tell them how many hours you plan on pledging between now and December 5th, and also which organization you plan on lending a hand to.
Locally, De Miguel says he expects the Region will have a significant impact on their goal, “When we see the Regional breakdown of how people are contributing to this drive, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a significant contribution come from our Region.”
On December 5th, a date recognized worldwide as the United Nation’s International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, Manulife will also be donating $10,000 to charitable organization.
Another way to get involved is to visit their Website.
Email: eric.drozd@rci.rogers.com
