Bentall Kennedy, one of North America’s largest real estate investment providers, was determined to make a difference in the communities in which its employees live and work. In Canada, food bank usage is on the rise, so leaders of Bentall Kennedy made it their mission to raise awareness about hunger in their communities and across the country.

In February 2012, they launched the Fare Fight for Food Challenge, a national initiative that partnered their 19 shopping centers across Canada with local food banks. Bentall Kennedy created the slogan, and their distributor partner sourced useful products to showcase the campaign message in a highly visible way while aiding the teams with their mission. The initial goal was to raise a total of $75,000 and collect 20,000 pounds of food.

From February until October, shopping center teams hosted special events and promotions. Teams competed to raise the most money, pounds of food and online supporters. The target audience consisted of all of the shopping center customers, Bentall Kennedy employees, suppliers and the general public.

To launch the campaign, six fundraising street teams – including the entire Bentall Kennedy retail division – invaded downtown Toronto for an afternoon. Teams were given a survival kit that included donation cans, aprons, candy and a bottle of water. One team’s adventure generated $30,000. To enhance the competition, the top five teams overall received an additional $10,000 grant from Bentall Kennedy’s head office for their food bank.

Promotional products printed with the Fare Fight for Food logo were created as practical tools to reinforce and support the campaign. Bags were given out at the store level and delivered door to door. Donation cans were used for the original launch and then reordered for individual stores, entrance tagging and 50/50 ticket sales. Aprons were worn by the Bentall Kennedy teams, retail partners, dignitaries and even the prime minister. Cookies were distributed to thank customers and to extend awareness of the campaign.

Bentall Kennedy exceeded its original objectives halfway through the campaign. By the end of the campaign, teams raised $155,000 in funds and 150,000 pounds of food donations – more than double the amount of money and 7.5 times the amount of food projected. More than 19 food banks across the country are the beneficiaries of this campaign.

If you’d like to get involved with a community outreach program or some other charitable cause, contact your ad specialty distributor for advice and products for your campaign.