Daniels: A Culture of Giving
By on Mar 25, 2011
Daniels is an immensely diverse homebuilder that has many layers to it. Over the coming weeks, the Toronto Star’s NewInHomes.com will be looking at those layers in depth, with our three part series on the Daniels Corporation.
In part one of our three-part look at Daniels, we take a look at Daniels corporate giving philosophies.
Culture is a word that can be described many ways. Defined as 'the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group,’ culture is directly linked to how we live our lives.
"I think for us, the giving philosophy is relevant to our day to day lives at Daniels," said Niall Haggart, Executive Vice President.
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"The whole notion of Second Harvest goes back to us hosting an event many years ago. We took at look at all the food that was not used – and it turned out that it was going to this agency – one that would become Second Harvest." Said Haggart
"At the time they were being run out of a small operation. Back then they were running around in their own trucks picking up food. It was the essence of what was a rather simple idea at the time. Picking up food and re-distributing it within a short period of time to various agencies in need. Fast forward to today where they service various agencies throughout the GTA without any government funding. The motto of this program is ‘food is life’."
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"Eva’s Initiatives is another program that we discovered 12 years ago. It is an organization that does not receive any funding whatsoever. It started with this great lady Eva. Her goal was to provide a positive and nurturing shelter for youth who found themselves on the street from a wide variety of circumstances. They are not benefiting from a shelter and need more of a permanent opportunity to help get themselves back into society." Haggart explained.
To learn more about ‘Eva's Initiatives’ and how they help the youth of Toronto, click here.
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"We have fun with this, it is a great program because we can take it forward and incorporate it to any other program." Haggart said
"We begin with the Regent Park School of Music, starting with this great song about 'our place in the city', a testament to the people who were moved out and are now coming back in Regent Park. Giving that song as a gift for a minimum donation, we are then able to forward that donation to the people who need it."
Other songs include "Angels of Mercy,” a song composed by Mitchell Cohen and performed by Jackie Richardson and the Regent Park School of Music Choir. The proceeds of "Angels of Mercy" go to Second Harvest.
The Jerry Giovannone Endowment Fund benefits from ‘He Was My Friend’, a song composed by Daniels’ Senior Vice President Tom Dutton. The song celebrates Giovannone, his life and his spirit. The fund was created in Jerry's name at George Brown College. It gives students a chance to follow in Jerry's footsteps by providing the necessary guidance, skills and support to enter the building industry.
Habitat for Humanity and the Daniels Corporation have a partnership that goes back to 1995.
"It started in 1995. We built a Habitat for Humanity home on Cawthra Road in Mississauga. At that point, Habitat for Humanity was at its genesis and they did not have any infrastructure in place. Daniels effectively took over a project manager position, helping them put those plans in place.
"That was a tremendous experience for the organization."
"The Lakeshore project was our first with Habitat, and started with a donation by Mr. Daniels to the Habitat program to build 10 townhomes, which we constructed with Habitat," Continued Blake.
This was witnessed recently at the Daniels First Home project in Erin Mills
“The Mississauga project was our first test to ensure that the project would work, and it did quite well. It’s something that you will see moving forward at future first home projects. “
From their work with Second Harvest, Eva's Initiatives, Give a Gift Get a Song and Habitat for Humanity, Daniels is a company that prides itself on honouring its commitment to corporate responsibility. It is clear that this commitment starts at the top.
"People always have the opportunity to spend some time doing what they want, whether it’s with Eva’s Initiative or Second Harvest."
