How we created value in 2018
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Article
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Community
Giving back to society
Since the beginning of 2017, we joined forces with our staff to create a better future for children in Brussels and Nepal, not only by investing time and money, but especially by being personally involved and building a relationship with the organisations we support.
La Cité Joyeuse and The Audrey Jacobs Foundation
The two charities we chose, La Cité Joyeuse in Brussels and the Audrey Jacobs Foundation in Nepal, are close to our hearts. Besides supporting them financially, we feel it is important to do more, like spending time with the children or going to Nepal to help them out locally. “The underlying idea is to create a corporate culture in which hard work, social awareness and humanity all matter. We want everyone to have the opportunity to contribute to the future of others without having to sacrifice their free time,” says our CEO, Gaël Terroir.
How much we raised
In 2017, we raised a total amount of €11 550, which is already a great deal for our first year. However, we decided we wanted to do better. So in 2018, we are really proud to announce that we raised a total amount of €21 531.
To get to this amount, we organised a few fundraising events throughout the year. These events were fully financed by Strand, so all income went directly to charity.
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10 Miles: Our 24 runners, with 3 crazy enough to do the marathon, raised €1498.
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“Shape The Future” quiz: With 18 teams we raised €3665 and could call this a great second edition.
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Friday the 13th (Murder BQ): 30 teams, 111 players and €7980 more to give to charity. Thanks to J&T Autolease and BMW Ottevaere for sponsoring!
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Strand Ski Trip ‘18: 28 participants joined our yearly Strand Ski Trip. The entrance fee went directly to charity, helping us raise another €2407.
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Spartacus Run: With 6 participants, we managed to raise €510.
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Cosy Winter Walk: This last fundraising event was probably one of the cosiest ones and helped us raise €1330.
We could also count on other ways to gather money for these two good causes.
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€42 through our fortune cookies: Our consultants who start a new project, receive a welcome gift in the form of fortune cookies they can share with their new colleagues. For every picture they send us, we donate €3 to charity.
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€1200 by FC Strand Associates: Strand is sponsoring a football team that continuously raises money with small events such as a Christmas market, part of their registration fee and selling drinks during sponsored matches.
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€150 of generous donations
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€2749 donations from our CEO Gaël Terroir for T-shirts for the kids of La Cité Joyeuse, sponsor money for their summer fair and Christmas market and sponsoring for the Christmas market of the Audrey Jacobs Foundation.
Where we spent it
In total (2017 and 2018 combined), we raised €32 681. Of course, not all the money is spent yet because we want to support La Cité Joyeuse and the Audrey Jacobs Foundation in a concrete and helpful way.
Last year, we donated money for furniture, fun and educational trips for the children and lucky pendants to support children in Nepal. This year, we donated money to the following projects:
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€2000 to 2 Care Centers in Kathmandu for differently abled children in Nepal. More specifically, the money went to paint, technical aid, special toilets, a cooking space and toys.
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€160 for paint to optimise school walls in Nepal.
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€693 for summer day trips to the Antwerp ZOO and Jump XL with the kids of Gais Lurons.
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€2000 to new classroom furniture for the Aarya Tara Preschool.
- €249 to new T-shirts for the kids of Gais Lurons.
- €2500 to sponsor the Summer Fair and Christmas Fairs of La Cité Joyeuse and the Audrey Jacobs Foundation.
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€3300 to 2 motor cycles: These provide the volunteers of the Audrey Jacobs Foundation the freedom to reach families in the mountains that otherwise could not be reached and helped. More specifically, they help handicapped children in poor environments by teaching their surroundings how to help them, teach them new things and grow as a family.
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€2500 to the Phulbari & Tusa programs: These one-month programs make sure that parents and children can become more independent and optimize their quality of life within the community.
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€2000 to school material for the kids of Gais Lurons: schoolbags, books, notebooks …
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€600 to give 4 teenage girls the liberty of decorating their own bedrooms.
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€3500 to optimize the safety of Gais Lurons with fire curtains.
Personal involvement
Besides raising money, we want to give back in a different way. Therefore, we visit the house ‘Gais Lurons’ at La Cité Joyeuse every month to celebrate the children’s birthdays with cake, presents and participation in their activities.
Also, every year, we send two volunteers to Nepal to help out locally. In October of 2017, the two first Strandies went to Nepal to help create a safer and friendlier environment for the children of the Surya Vinayak school, by making beautiful and educational wall paintings.
In October this year, our next two Strand volunteers went to help out by teaching English to the children and helping the marketing team up their game. More about their experience soon!
Strand thanks you all
To all who contributed to this amazing result and to the time we could spend with the children, thank you!
Thank you to those who spend time with the children, to Jana and Daphne for helping two local projects in Nepal, to all who helped make the fundraising activities a success, to all participants that helped us raise all that money, to FC Strand Associates, J&T Autolease and BMW Ottevaere for your donations, to everyone who randomly donated, to our CEO Gaël Terroir who made this all happen and to all Strandies for their time and attention!
Thank you!