HP Canada plunges into Polar Bear Week to support WWF’s Arctic work!

WWF Canada

Written by Wendy Ho, Guest blogger for WWF’s Living Planet @ Work
Polar Bear Week at HP Canada was a success, raising over $10,000 and engaging employees across Canada in Arctic conservation.
From a movie matinée, to a spin-a-thon, to an online auction and bake sale, HP has engaged volunteers, staff and senior management to make it all possible. Their enthusiastic response to Polar Bear Week is an example of how an organization can harness the passion and values of its staff and take employee engagement from 1.0 to 2.0.
For starters, Lloyd Bryant, Managing Director of HP Canada propelled Polar Bear Week into high gear by stepping up to plunge into icy waters through a polar dip with Frances Edmonds, HP’s Director of Environmental Programs.
The goal? To raise $10,000 for WWF’s Arctic efforts, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Coca-Cola.* Their commitment can be summed up by one commenter on Lloyd and Frances’ fundraising page which commends them for literally “swimming the talk” in the name of conservation!

HP Canada shows their fundraising progress to employees in the office © HP Canada
HP Canada shows their fundraising progress to employees in the office © HP Canada

During the past couple of weeks, their pledge to dip garnered enough buzz that it snowballed into an event that saw 18 other dippers enthusiastically sign up to jump along with them. On Wednesday (with temperatures feeling like -22), they took the plunge into Lake Ontario along with dippers from WWF, Royal Sun Alliance and the Ontario Power Authority.
HP Canada
Lloyd and Frances pose with Panda before the plunge! © Andrey Serdyukov

Simone Hacikyan, Environment and Business Analyst at HP Canada, says that departments across the organization worked collaboratively to help promote the dip and make the entire week happen.  She also attests its success to having senior leaders that “swim the talk” and having creative, flexible ideas like a dip or an auction that can engage with staff that telecommute or work remotely.
HP Canada
HP Canada donates more $10,000 worth of prizes to raise funds through an auction! © HP Canada

HP Canada
The teams gets funs and creative with polar bear cupcakes! © HP Canada

“Employees really get behind the idea of protecting our Arctic and our polar bears because it’s a source of pride for us as Canadians. It’s also a great way to engage people across the company and have tons of fun!” adds Simone.
This spring, HP is thinking big and seizing the opportunity to engage employees on more than just polar bears and the Arctic. Employees will also celebrate Earth Hour on March 29 and those in Toronto, will join us for WWF’s CN Tower Climb on May 1 for the Corporate Team Challenge. Their word of advice: plan early and think big!
There are plenty of ways to still get involved in Polar Bear Week and have your donation matched! Click here to visit WWF’s Living Planet @ Work Spring Things campaign to see how you and your workplace can join in on activities to support WWF’s Arctic conservation work and upcoming campaigns this Spring!
* Make a donation to WWF’s Arctic efforts and Coca-Cola® will match your donation dollar-for-dollar until March 15, 2014, to a maximum of $1 million USD (Canada and U.S. only).