PR Lesson From Relay for Life

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 support all of the participants by helping them find the right place to stand and light their tributes while the bag pipes played a 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 by losing my packages), 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.