For nearly two years our corporate clients have struggled staying connected to their work colleagues and building connections with their newly hired colleagues when they have restrictions on getting together. It’s a difficult challenge to bring people together when you can’t “bring people together”. The virtual world has so many distractions and constraints when the focus is corporate culture, despite everyone’s best efforts to bridge that in-person/virtual gap.
Additionally, corporate clients have scrambled to identify and execute their usual philanthropic activities. The overwhelming majority of volunteer opportunities pre-pandemic were done in-person and that constant demand for volunteering was turned off within a few days in March 2020.
So how do corporations in a COVID-19 world continue to strengthen their efforts to cultivate their corporate culture and meet their corporate philanthropic goals and objectives?
In December of 2021, Cheeriodicals had the wonderful opportunity to partner with Foo Dog Productions and Sanofi to create and host a project that would bring a large team together to virtually volunteer with community-based impact. The Foo Dog Productions team was tasked by Sanofi’s Rare Blood Disorders business with finding a unique way to bring their team together on a virtual Zoom call and have their team work together on a fun give-back project that impacted those in need in the Boston Metro Area. It’s not easy to find a project that can match those needs, especially when the execution is on a Zoom call and includes nearly 200 participants. Fortunately for Sanofi, Foo Dog Productions and Cheeriodicals had connected in the past and it was a natural fit to come together to provide an answer for their team.
Cheeriodicals has been hosting corporate socially responsible team building activities “that matter” for corporations throughout the US and Canada for more than a decade. Prior to the pandemic, those CSR team building activities would involve a Cheeriodicals Event Manager traveling to a corporate location or destination property to lead an hour-long project to pack/assemble Cheeriodicals (big green boxes/bags filled with feel-good items) destined for those in need. Upon finishing the packing project, Cheeriodicals would lead a small group of 5-8 event participants to a local hospital or healthcare facility to deliver the Cheeriodicals packages in-person to the recipients of the donation.
Cheeriodicals has several product options for their cheer-up boxes/bags including those that are destined for hospitalized children, hospitalized Veterans, Ronald McDonald House Residents, American Cancer Society patients and new offerings to deliver smiles to frontline hospital workers and assisted living residents.
Sanofi employees came together virtually for a team building event to support local assisted living residents during the holidays
Upon realizing that their team could join a corporate socially responsible team building project on a Zoom call, the Sanofi team wanted to impact their local market in Boston Metro and pack and ship Cheeriodicals to impact assisted living residents. The pandemic has been particularly difficult for elderly residents in assisted living facilities, especially given the mandated absence of in-person visitors within the facilities. That visitation constraint has been so difficult for the residents as they have missed the opportunity to make a personal connection with their friends and families. The Sanofi team felt that their effort could make a measurable difference for these residents and show them that their team cared for them. For that reason, the team was 100% on board to identify two local facilities to impact.
Cheeriodicals researched the assisted living facilities in the area near the Sanofi office and chose two facilities to impact: Susan Bailis and Providence House. Once these facilities were selected, Cheeriodicals began the planning process and chose the date of Dec. 8, 2021 to host the virtual team building activity.
Nearly 200 Sanofi colleagues joined the hour-long Zoom call to hear an overview of giving back through team building and even an update by management at the Susan Bailis Assisted Living Facility. The Cheeriodicals supply kits were shipped directly to each participant’s home, so they had all the items needed to personalize and pack their Cheeriodicals bag safely in their homes. Upon completion of their Cheeriodicals, the Sanofi colleagues simply shipped their packages directly to the assisted living facilities using their pre-printed FedEx shipping label and their shipping box.
“Creating the boxes was a highlight for the team. The pandemic has created many distractions, but this reminded us of the importance of giving back. We had a lot of fun doing it.”
– Dianna Solimine, Head of Portfolio Marketing at Sanofi Rare Blood Disorders
This recap is the Cliff’s Notes version but rest assured that the team building participants were able to connect on Zoom, ask questions, showcase their work, get inspired, take dozens of selfies and even involve their kids/spouses in their Cheeriodicals packing work. In the pandemic world, the opportunities to volunteer (as a larger team) and in-person, have disappeared for the time being. In this new world, a virtual team building effort is the best option and we have all realized it works. And, we can even bring in family members without leaving the home!
“We were excited about the idea of bringing The Cheeriodicals activity to our annual employee holiday celebration, we really weren’t sure if we’d experience the same level of engagement in a virtual format,” said Dianna Solimine, Head of Portfolio Marketing for Sanofi’s Rare Blood Disorders business. “Creating the boxes was a highlight for the team. The pandemic has created many distractions, but this reminded us of the importance of giving back. We had a lot of fun doing it.”
Just peek at some of the selfies from this Sanofi team and you can see their smiles knowing they are making a difference where it matters most:
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Finally, nothing matters as much as the feedback from the assisted living facilities; their management teams were so supportive during the entire planning and execution process.
Marian Zennitz Jones, Executive Director, from the Susan Bailis Facility noted “I am so excited to see all the boxes that have started to come in. I am so excited about giving each and every resident a gift. What you are doing for our elderly and senior residents just melts my heart.”
Colin Campbell, Director of Community Relations, from Providence House shared “On behalf of the entire management team here at Providence House I would like to thank Sanofi and Cheeriodicals for partnering together to help make the holiday’s brighter for our residents. The last year and a half has been quite challenging for all of us and during this time of year it means the world to our residents that someone out there is thinking about them.”
“In these interesting times, it is great to know that there are still ways to actively engage with your audience and give back to the community, when getting together in person isn’t an option”
– Michael Wise, Executive Producer of Foo Dog Productions
The Foo Dog Productions partnership was a major asset to bring this virtual team building activity together. Their expertise in virtual event production allowed this large team to “feel connected”, even if on a Zoom call. Michael Wise, Executive Producer, Foo Dog Productions, said “In these interesting times, it is great to know that there are still ways to actively engage with your audience and give back to the community, when getting together in person isn’t an option”
The Sanofi team was amazing in this effort, and with their support, we proved that virtual team building can reconnect large teams together, meet corporate social responsibility goals and most importantly, make remarkable impact on those in need of a lift in spirits.