Merry Mohawk to Calgary's Youths in BGCC Shelters
Calgary, AB – (Dec 21, 2011) This holiday season, the staff at Pandell teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary to ensure every teen residing in the Club’s youth shelters and housing programs has gifts to open on Christmas morning. This initiative, positioned as a corporate team-building activity for Pandell, gave the company’s staff the opportunity to provide gifts for troubled youth in our community, and watch their corporate leader “take one for the team” by getting his hair cut into a mohawk.
Why the Mohawk?
Pandell’s President & CEO, Greg Chudiak, agreed to sport a mohawk if 80% of the company’s staff participated in reaching a targeted fundraising goal. This put a humorous spin on the challenge and inspired employees to work together to reach the goal. Additionally, Pandell matched dollar-for-dollar, the contributions made by its staff.
Shop, Wrap, and Cut!
The company nearly doubled its fundraising goal which ensured the hottest electronics and other gifts could be purchased for the BGCC teens. After divvying up the donations and forming shopping teams, a bus load of Pandell staff descended upon Market Mall in a frenzy to acquire everything on their gift lists in less than 90 minutes. Then it was a race back to Pandell’s office in the Currie Barracks for the after-shopping party, which included gift-wrapping and the much anticipated head-shaving shenanigans.
Jeremy Nixon, BGCC Youth Shelters Manager, and Andy Tse, BGCC Fund Development Coordinator, were invited to Pandell’s office to participate in the activities. “It’s really quite astonishing what an organization of this size has accomplished today,” said Nixon. “This kind of effort shows the youth in our system that people out there really care about what happens to them. It’s a powerful message that can greatly improve these kids’ chances of overcoming their barriers.”
Jon Borromeo was the lucky Pandell employee who got the honor of shaving his boss’s head. “This is an example of the fun kind of company Pandell is,” says Borromeo, Software Developer. “I really like my job. [pause] I hope Greg will still let me have it tomorrow!” When asked how the company will inspire the team to the same level next year, one suggestion was made that Greg should get a tattoo if the fundraising reaches new heights. Chudiak replied, “Don’t hold your breath.”
About Pandell
Pandell is an industry leader in delivering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions to 500+ energy companies in Canada, the USA, and abroad. Our customers range from startups to major enterprises across energy sectors including oil & gas, pipelines, utilities, mining, and renewable energy. Our cloud-hosted product suite helps finance, land, and field operations run their business more effectively; while our enterprise division builds and manages large-scale web portal applications that facilitate work across organizations. Combining the strength of our industry experience, Lithium™ technology, and practical software subscription model, we are Crafting the Future of Energy Software.
