First of all, I want to extend my congratulations to the Thompson Nicola Cariboo United Way.  We work with them closely each year and are elated to hear they raised $2.178 Million Dollars in 2012, a 9% increase over last year!  We were able to raise $12,820 in company donations and hope to improve that total in 2013!

In addition, each employee at iCompass donates to a “Casual Fund” which allows staff to wear casual dress to work.  Every December we take the money and use it to sponsor one or two families in need through the local YMCA – YWCA Women’s Emergency Shelter.

On top of employee donations, Chantelle Stone hosts an annual fundraising event with all the proceeds going to our Christmas Hampers. This year, I am proud to announce that we raised $1,500! As a result, we sponsored two families in need over the holiday.  They received trees, gifts and Christmas dinner.

Congratulations again to United Way, and to the entire Kamloops community.  We are proud to be a small part of their growing success.

iCompass invests a lot of time and money into United Way’s Community fund, so we were thrilled to receive an invitation to one of their Seeing is Believing tours. Courtney Harris and I joined employees from CIBC, Interior Savings, Bank of Montreal, Elizabeth Fry Society and members of the United Way Youth Club to begin our tour.

Our first stops was the Henry Leland House which is a 24-hour supported housing unit for hard-to-house members of Kamloops. The Henry Leland House ensures safe and affordable housing for these tenants and while they are not expected to be in recovery they do need to have some form of a Health & Wellness plan aiding them to focus on overcoming personal challenges. 

Our next stop was at the Crossroads Inn where we met Jim, a Life Skills Worker, and Adult Addictions Supportive Housing & Co-Director of Merritt Operation to educate us on this facility. Built 18 years ago, it started out as a hotel before quickly turning into a rooming house that had a reputation for illegal activity. In 2003, 2 local businessmen purchased the property and made a commitment to improve the living conditions for tenants.  Today, ASK Wellness leases the property which has 51 beds.  Renovations were made and it now has a meeting room and large eating area with TV and internet access.

The month of September marks the beginning of many things.  In this case, September marks the beginning of another amazing campaign for United Way and as always, iCompass is thrilled to be involved. 

iCompass’ Misty Chaboyer sits in on an 'easy as that' Max 20 Training Week and shares her experience...

This quarter it was the Marketing and Sales team’s turn to step up and show us the meaning of a launch party, and I have to say I was impressed by their efforts. The event started with a gathering in the boardroom (War Room, as we like to call it), which had been transformed, into a makeshift-curling rink – sans ice. The walls were adorned with curlers (not the hair kind), different rules of curling and our Q3 motto. We gathered around to hear Launch Host and iCompass Account Executive Stephen Orteza tell us the significance of our interesting Q3 theme and why it was chosen.

I’m sure many of you readers out there are wondering, “What the heck does Hurry, Hurry Hard mean?!” Well, we’re at the halfway mark for the year now, the clock’s ticking and there is still plenty of work to be done. In order to successfully complete our goals and projects we’ve got to ‘Hurry, Hurry Hard’. On top of the company and individual goals we’re responsible for each quarter, we also have some great projects in our ‘Ops’ (operations) world that tie directly into making our customers’ jobs even easier than before. We’re a dedicated team at iCompass, and our Core Values push us to strive for greatness every day. That’s why, at the peak of vacation season for iCompass and our valued customers, we’re pushing to go that extra mile – even with the challenge of time and busy schedules.

The iCompass team stepped up to the plate once again to pair up with partner United Way for a Day of Caring. This day gives groups and institutions an opportunity to gain a stronger internal sense of team-building by helping out local organizations in need.  Our choice organization was Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association (KTRA). 

On February 22nd Francyne and I made our way over to the United Way (conveniently now located across the street from iCompass!) where they were having an Open House to show off their stylish brand new office!