Sarah’s Circle is a non-profit organization located in the heart of Chicago that provides a full spectrum of services for women, including housing and life necessities, to help permanently overcome homelessness. While Roscoe, a Chicago-based employee uniform rental company, has been a donor to Sarah’s Circle for some time, the Roscoe team decided to up the ante and combine fundraising for Sarah’s Circle with Roscoe’s annual employee Steps Challenge. The result was an increased focus on wellness and a closer connection with the community for Roscoe employees.
Sarah’s Circle and Roscoe Connection
“My sister Nancy was a supporter of Sarah’s Circle long before I was aware of the organization,” commented Jim Buik, Roscoe CEO. “Sarah’s Circle became a customer of Roscoe’s about six years ago, and after I learned more about their mission, Roscoe became a contributor.”
Nancy noticed Roscoe listed as a corporate donor in Sarah’s Circle’s annual report, making the connection. Since then, Roscoe has increased their contribution to Sarah’s Circle and “in-kind” service donations, which help offset the cost of their facility services through Roscoe.
Roscoe Steps Challenge and Walk for Sarah’s Circle
This year, Roscoe saw an opportunity to combine its internal wellness event with the annual Winter Walk for Sarah’s Circle. Samantha Lesniak, Roscoe’s Stockroom Team Leader, explains, “We continually look for events and activities that will build a positive team environment. Charity events and contributions are a great way to help our community while team building.”
Roscoe hosted an employee “steps” event, encouraging the team to hit a goal number of walking (or running) steps per day. Roscoe helped cover the cost of new Fitbit fitness trackers for employee team members. The challenge included raffle prize drawings for those who hit their steps goals.
Roscoe saw the opportunity to tie the step challenge in with an event that would benefit an outstanding customer organization. Sarah’s Circle’s annual Winter Walk for Sarah’s Circle was happening simultaneously, and Roscoe signed up to walk in the event as Team Roscoe. In addition to committing to walking the event, Roscoe team members raised money through personal donations and donations from friends and family. Roscoe offered a 5x match to the team’s contributions. The Roscoe team donated over $8,400 to Sarah’s Circle through the event.
Steps for Community and Employee Culture
Roscoe’s step challenge not only motivated people to move, but they challenged and motivated each other. The event had the Roscoe team buzzing. Team members were checking in with each other, seeing if they hit their steps, how many steps they had left to hit that day’s goal, or sharing how they reached their previous day’s goal with an extra walk after work.
Roscoe team members formed deeper personal connections and how time was spent outside the workplace. Some people were averaging 45,000 steps a day, and of course, everyone had to know what they were doing. “We learned that one of our team members boxes after work, another attended fitness classes, and another ran every day,” said Lesniak. “These conversations create friendship and offer a rare glimpse into our team members’ lives, which means greater understanding and respect will naturally occur. It was a huge success, and I still see, several months after the challenge was completed, that people are wearing their Fitbit and continuing with their healthier journey!”
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About Roscoe
Roscoe takes pride in the employee uniform services we provide for our customers and the community connections and positive team culture we’ve built at Roscoe. Roscoe is proud to be a third – going on fourth-generation – family-owned and operated company. Our commitment to our customers, quality employee uniform and rental services, and team environment reflect our family values.
We’d love the opportunity to learn more about your workplace and how we can elevate your brand, makes your employees look great, maintain compliance, and ensure safety through our employee uniform programs. Contact us today.
