Go Auto Gives Back
Giving Back to Our Communities
With success comes the opportunity to give back to those who helped make us
what we are today. Go Auto is proud to contribute to organizations that help
hundreds of thousands of Canadians each year.
GO AUTO FUELS THE SCHOOLS
Every year, Go Auto gives back to the community in a meaningful way. We have supported benevolent charities and launched special charitable initiatives, but in 2018 we were especially excited about our plan to give back. We introduced a wonderful “hand to hand” program that involved hundreds of Go Auto employees and positively impacted the lives of thousands of Edmonton families: Go Auto Fuels the Schools.
There are thousands of children throughout Edmonton’s school system in socially vulnerable situations, and many of them are going to school every day without a lunch. In April 2018, Go Auto launched Fuels the Schools to provide lunches to school children in need.
“Over the last few years we have supported a number of benevolent charities and launched our own special charitable initiatives,” said Go Auto President Jason Smith. “But no matter the cause, our goals are always the same: to encourage positive change, to give back to and strengthen our communities, and to change people’s lives for the better. Fuels the Schools will impact thousands of Edmonton families, so we couldn’t be more excited to help.”
Fuels the Schools started in April and is Go Auto’s biggest program to date. Behind the full weight of our in-house culinary team, led by Corporate Red Seal Chef Bryan Dwernychuk, hundreds of Go Auto employees volunteered their time packaging and delivering approximately 62,000 meals throughout the year. Lunches were both hot and cold, and featured healthy choices like salads, sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, and snacks.
GO AUTO DONATES VANS TO THE
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE Shuttle Program
The Ronald McDonald House Shuttle Program has been in operation for five years. In that time, it has saved families hundreds to thousands of dollars in vehicle, fuel, and parking costs. Some families stay at the Ronald McDonald House for months. The costs can add up. All drivers for the Shuttle Program are volunteers.
Ronald McDonald House Shuttle Program at a glance:
- Over 14,000 trips between the House and hospitals every single year. This includes the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital on a daily schedule – 7:00am until 9:00pm, Monday to Friday.
- On-demand services for families on weekends between 9:00am and 9:00pm.
- The Shuttle Program is driven completely by volunteer drivers.
- Fuel for the shuttle is provided by financial donations and donations of fuel cards.
Go Auto has been supporting the program since its inception. The donation of two vehicles ensures that there will never be a time when this service is not available to families.
As an additional surprise, and to celebrate the new vehicles, Go Auto invited Connor McDavid to surprise families with a visit, as well as hockey paraphernalia and tickets.
Random Acts of Kindness
In 2017, Go Auto gave $1 million to its employees to be used towards Random Acts of Kindness. Each employee received $350, with the condition that it be donated to a person or group in genuine need.
Random Acts of Kindness is a movement that is celebrated every February by people all around the world, and it encourages people to give without expecting anything in return. Kind acts help create kindness-aware communities that value generosity of spirit and action. These acts show others that they matter, and that even in the face of hostility and selfishness, every one of us can make a stand for kindness.
“Go Auto has always made giving back to our community a priority,” said Go Auto President, Jason Smith. “Participation in Random Acts of Kindness in this way affords our employees the opportunity to make a positive difference in our community by personally choosing people, organizations and causes that are most important to them. This grass roots philosophy of giving ‘hand to hand’ where the need is most fits directly into Go Auto’s core belief of empowering our employees to make decisions and create positive change.”
Mr. Smith added, “So much of the Go Auto experience is about fostering relationships. With our employees, with our customers, and with our communities. I’m incredibly proud of our success, in no small part because it allows us to give back to the people and places who have supported us.”
For inquiries related to Go Auto and Random Acts of Kindness, please contact Felicia Palmer at fpalmer@goauto.ca
