Ten things we loved about Spring Things 2015

Written by Living Planet @ Work’s Amy Castator & Laura Miller
Living Planet @ Work’s 2015 Spring Things campaign has drawn to a close and employees raised more than $170,000 to conserve nature, critical species and habitats. Take a look at what we got up to this year and why we had so much fun doing it!

1. Bucket List

Spring Things is the ultimate fundraising campaign for adventure seekers, with not one, but two awesome bucket list feats built into the campaign for our supporters to conquer: the Polar Dip & the Canada Life CN Tower Climb for WWF!
55 of Living Planet @ Work’s bravest friends took the plunge at the WWF Polar Dip, followed by 309 who climbed the 1776 steps up to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world at the 25th Anniversary CN Tower Climb.

© WWF-Canada
© WWF-Canada

2. Great Memories

When the weather was beyond perfect for the Polar Dip (well, after we re-scheduled it due to beyond IMperfect weather…)

Location of the Polar Dip on its originally scheduled date. © WWF-Canada
Location of the Polar Dip on its originally scheduled date. © WWF-Canada

© WWF-Canada
Location of the Polar Dip on its revised date © WWF-Canada

3. Who Doesn’t Love a Little Friendly Competition?

This year during Spring Things, we saw VP’s challenge one another, companies go head-to-head, and colleagues fight it out for the fundraising crown!

Bentall Kennedy champions facing off!  © Bentall Kennedy
Bentall Kennedy champions facing off! © Bentall Kennedy

4. It Invigorated Us

The energy and enthusiasm the campaign generated—it was just incredible!

Bullfrog Power climbers celebrating their climb success! © WWF-Canada
Bullfrog Power climbers celebrating their climb success! © WWF-Canada

Polar Dip Fun!  © WWF-Canada
Polar Dip Fun! © WWF-Canada

5. We Learned!

Spring Things gave us all a chance to learn a little more about our natural environment and the need to protect it. WWF conservation expert Emily Giles gave our Spring Things champions a very special and super cool webinar on Freshwater species to celebrate Canada Water Week!

Blanding’s Turtle © Emily Giles

6. Our Inspiring Champions!

It was so fun to watch these wonderful folks tap into their amazing skills and exercise their mental muscles—creativity, innovation, leadership— to take their workplace fundraisers to the next level. They totally blew us away.

HP champions Frances Edmonds & Gillian Hrycko. © HP-Canada
HP champions Frances Edmonds & Gillian Hrycko. © HP-Canada

7. Our amazing Spring Things CEO committee

This group of business leaders committed to making a lasting and positive impact on our planet and they proved once again how integral the support of senior level leadership is to employee engagement. This year, we welcomed the fabulous support of the following change-makers and their employees:
Gordon Hicks, President, Brookfield GIS
Rudi Blatter, President & CEO, Lindt & Sprüngli Canada Inc.
Alister Paterson, President, Canada Steamship Lines
Stu Wanlin, Executive VP,  Bentall Kennedy Canada
Lloyd Bryant, Managing Director, HP-Canada

The five CEO’s who helped make Spring Things 2015 not just possible, but a huge    success! © WWF-Canada
The five executives that helped make Spring Things 2015 not just possible, but a huge success! © WWF-Canada

8. Shaking Things Up

Colleagues across different departments, cubicle groups, and office floors had the opportunity to come together, get to know one another, and do something huge for wildlife, making new friends along the way!
 

HP Climbers. © WWF-Canada
HP Climbers. © WWF-Canada

Bentall Climbers. © WWF-Canada
Bentall Climbers. © WWF-Canada

9. Outstanding Fundraising Ideas

Our champions thought of everything, from chili cook-offs to board games, photo drawing contests to spring fairs.

“Arctic circles” at Farimont’s Polar Bear Week bake sale fundraiser.  © Fairmont Raffles Hotels International
“Arctic circles” at Farimont’s Polar Bear Week bake sale fundraiser. © Fairmont Raffles Hotels International

10. The Campaign Made a Difference.

42 companies joined together in support of Spring Things and raised an impressive $160,000+ for WWF-Canada’s conservation work!

THANK YOU! © WWF-Canada
THANK YOU! © WWF-Canada

Spring Things is WWF-Canada’s newest and most exciting workplace campaign to help conserve nature, critical species and habitats. Interested in getting your company and colleagues engaged in Spring Things or in championing the environment at your organization? Visit, Living Planet @ Work.