Page 11 - BusinessWest November 10, 2021
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  back, not only to the office, but to get involved making in time
“I think the pandemic pushed us
[nonprofits] to work closer together in
different ways, such as going after
joint funding as one large
organization rather than individually,
DEXTER JOHNSON ” so it has definitely had that benefit.
with volunteering again, they really wanted to.
I think the pandemic has been exhausting and aging, but it’s also been reflective, and I think it’s prompting people to be reflective about how to live your life and how to make a difference.
I think people want to be part of something greater, so I think that stewardship will be stron- ger than ever because this has almost been that switch that has prompted us all to rethink what’s important. There’s a silver lining to everything, and sometimes it’s hard to find, but I think this is it.”
Jasmin: “It was reinforcing for us in terms of our viewpoint on our being involved in the com- munity. We took a look at what our philosophy was and really came out with an even greater understanding that these are the pillars we want to focus on. We’re a food company, first and fore- most, and one of our pillars is hunger relief and helping with food insecurity. And that was rein- forced for us — this is a continuing need, and we should be involved with it. And just in general, it’s also reinforced that we should continue to
be involved — that our investment that we’re
and money and
people is needed
and is valuable.
What this has
taught us is that
we need to be
invested continu-
ously, so when a
crisis occurs, you
can react quickly.
It’s not something
you can develop
from scratch.
Overall, it was reinforcing.”
go the way we anticipate, so you need to be flex- ible and, more importantly, creative, and this will carry forward.”
D’Amour: “As challenging as the pandemic has been, I think a lot of good has come from it in terms of pausing. Whether as an individual, busi- ness, or nonprofit, we all took the time to pause, re-evaluate, and say, ‘what’s the need? How can we help each other?’ Sometimes, prior to the pandemic, we were very focused on our own business model or our own mission, and where
it was going. But we were all in the same boat essentially wanting to row in the same direc- tion, so we collectively said, ‘how can we do this together?’”
Johnson: “I think the pandemic pushed us [nonprofits] to work closer together in different ways, such as going after joint funding as one large organization rather than individually, so it
Stewardship
Continued on page 42
      Verducci: “I think the pandemic was a catalyst for empathy amongst companies; it was shared experience that was totally unprecedented, so people were empathetic with each other, and they really did understand what was happening with everyone. Instead of people saying ‘maybe not this year’ when we reached out, everyone we contacted over the past 18 months was willing
to help in some way. The other thing we realized was that even the best-laid plans are not going to
      MICHELLE D’AMOUR
“As challenging as the pandemic has been, I think a lot of good has come from it in terms of pausing. Whether as an individual, business, or nonprofit, we all took the time to pause, re-evaluate, and say, ‘what’s the need? How can we help each other?’”
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