WWF's Debut at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Written by Chelsie Burke, Community Engagement Officer
This year, WWF-Canada made its debut as an official charity at the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  On Sunday October 20th,  eleven WWF staff, and other members of “Team WWF”, came together to run the 5K, Half Marathon or Full Marathon race, and raised over $3,500 for WWF-Canada throughout the process!  Our team had fun, got some exercise, and worked together to fundraise for WWF-Canada.

So how did a small group of coworkers work together and get creative to raise funds for WWF?  We hosted 2 delicious fundraising events in our office that had our colleagues excited to support our run.
The first was a Soup Sale.  In early October we brought in 5 slow cookers with 3 different kinds of soup and hosted a lunch time soup sale fundraiser.   We raised $200 in just under an hour and were completely sold out of soup!  Our fellow staff loved the creativity of a new fundraising event, and enjoyed the healthy, hearty, and seasonable lunch option.
The second fundraiser was a Bake Sale (always a guaranteed crowd pleaser).  A week before our event we reached out to a larger group of colleagues and asked them to help us host an unforgettable bake sale.  We had many savory contributions including quiches, noodles, pasta salad, chick pea salad, biryani, samosas and more!  And there were many sweet contributions including cupcakes, cookies, brownies, truffles, and cake pops!  With so many delicious options, there was something for everyone.  This amazing bake sale raised $719 for the team!

Additional funds were raised online through team member’s requests for donations.  We asked friends, family, coworkers, and basically everyone we know to support us in our fundraising plight.  It’s amazing who comes out to support your cause when you post it on Facebook and Twitter!
The run itself was fantastic and Canada Running Series did a great job organizing the event!  It was a beautiful sunny October morning and Team WWF enjoyed ourselves!  Many of us work for WWF-Canada,  but supporting the organization through this event was something special.  There is a great sense of pride in working together outside of the workplace to raise funds for an organization that we are all so passionate about!
Want to host a fundraiser at work in support of WWF?  I am happy to share our tricks and tips!  Email me at [email protected]  or call me at 416-489-4567 ext. 7236.