One of the sponsors for this year’s Relay for Life was a small local courier company. I say small because although he has a client base of 3000, his competitors are more than likely Fed-Ex, UPS, and (if you live in Canada) Purolator. These larger companies can be stiff competition. They spend millions on their advertising and marketing campaigns and their worldwide coverage makes it hard for smaller courier companies to break into the market with speedy delivery and affordable rates.
As a person who used to work for an established international distribution company, I know that there are a ton of small local courier companies out there who fight to match services and prices with these big names. I’ve used both big and small with mixed results, but the bad days stand out the most in my memory.
More than Just a Sponsor
More to the point, this is the only event that I have attended where I was shocked by the level of commitment from a sponsor. Not only did his company sponsor the new Caregiver Lap at our event, but he also sponsored the Survivor and Caregiver Laps at 6 other locations. On top of that, he sponsored the tribute Luminaries as well.
When I say sponsor, I don’t just mean that he donated money, candles and sand. I mean he collected and walked these luminaries to their designated spots around the track.
For an entire 1 1/2 before the luminary ceremony, he brought the candles down to the track and organized them in the appropriate order. At first he looked lost and frazzled, but eventually he started to find his groove. As the ceremony grew closer, he picked up his pace and started jogging back and forth between the walkers and the Luminary Kiosk.
Dedication to the Cause
On every lap, we watched him tirelessly supported all of the participants by helping them find the right place to stand and light their tributes while bag pipes played their haunting hymn.
As one of the participants, I’ve seen first hand the dedication and commitment this business owner has to his community and the people in it. I’ve seen him labour tirelessly for the benefit of others. This was more than a sponsorship to him. That was obvious.
I’ve seen him walk the track as one of us. As someone who has more than likely lost a friend or family member to the disease we can’t seem to obliterate.
Finding a New Courier Service
Like many people there, and at the 6 other events, I’m a business owner. As much as I like the “guaranteed” service of the big three (who’ve all had their share of putting me in a tough spot with a lost package), I now have a new company to consider in my business decisions.
I had never met him before this event, but because of his simple charitable act, I feel like I already know him and the values of his company. Before I send my next important package, I’ll call his company for a quote because I want him to be able to support the cause again next year.
We all will. He’s one of us now. Someone who was lost at first, but then gathered strength through the support of those around us.
P
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July 8th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Pamela,
Excellent post. I find it ironic (in a positive way) that someone who sponsored an event because he cared about the cause (as opposed to just trying to get publicity) got the publicity.
So few sponsors do anything more than write a check so I hope that you weren’t alone in considering this guy for your shipping needs.
James
blog.jvf.com
July 9th, 2008 at 9:16 am
@James
I hope I’m not alone either. I don’t know if all of the events he sponsored happened that same night, but I’m glad that he attended my event. His efforts, and the efforts of all the volunteers, truly made it an unforgettable night.