Without our attachment to community and, in particular, offering brighter futures for young people, we would be missing such a key piece of our corporate soul.
We have made the commitment to do what we can to use our influence to make positive change for young people and those people who have had curve balls thrown at them in life. And while at 'team McNak' we are pretty good at playing ball in the game of staffing, we get so much enjoyment from the smiles on faces we've impacted.
Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.
- Margaret Mead
At McNeill Nakamoto, we are committed to ensuring that the legacy we create is not just for ourselves but for our community.
Grape Juice is an exciting fundraiser event that was created by McNeill Nakamoto Recruitment Group in 2007. Oenophiles enjoyed the silent auction in 2007 and 2008 which raised a combined total of $40,500. We chose to host our next Grape Juice wine auction in 2010, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland. Our goal was to raise $50,000 at Grape Juice 2010. We proudly exceeded our goal and raised $54,000. At Grape Juice 2011 we raised $67,000. We moved our venue to Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver in 2012, and raised over $82,000.
The next GrapeJuice will be on March 7th, 2013 at Ferrari Maserati of Vancouver. Follow Grape Juice on Twitter for up to date details.
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland is McNeill Nakamoto's primary philanthropy and active focus. With our inaugural Grape Juice Wine Auction to Benefit Big Sisters in June of 2007, Sarah McNeill's chairing of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Divas Gala, our Career Launcher program, to our every day fundraising and awareness of "jeans for Big Sisters" by our team, our sense of community is ever present. Sarah McNeill is an Honourary Advisory Board Member of Big Sisters BC Lower Mainland.
It costs $2,000 to make and maintain one Big & Little Sister match for one year. McNeill Nakamoto set a target to facilitate the creation of 25 new matches by 2010. We exceeded that goal and raised enough funds to facilitate 58 new matches. With our help we can assist these young women overcome challenges in their lives and help their gain self esteem and confidence to make positive life choices.
Other important and vital programs that McNeill Nakamoto supports:
Dress for Success helps women with low income make transitions into the workforce by providing each client with one suit when she has an interview and a second suit when she gets the job. Cheryl Nakamoto is heading the Operations Committee in the creation of the 'Buddy System.' Our team hosts an annual 'Suit Drive' for our client companies, plus, we've completed the Dress Me for Success Corporate Challenge in 2008 and 2009.
Our newest addition to McNeill Nakamoto's community, we have initiated our relationship with the Vancouver YWCA with our Career Launcher and HR Recruitment in Focus Programs. The latter program is targeted to begin next year. The first program will be targeted to Grades 11 and 12 in a High School who are exploring career and education options in order to be prepared for their futures. The second program is targeted to women over 19 who are unemployed or underemployed.
The Social Purchasing Portal (SPP) provides an on-line environment for business-to-business procurement transactions to leverage community economic development activity. This group of businesses, through their procurement policies and buying from the list of SPP suppliers, put social corporate responsibility into practice and create a social value for the community. McNeill Nakamoto is one of the original participants in this business portal.
