One of the very first GiveShopVirtual Garage Sales we conducted was with our friends at Field Effect.

Field Effect is a local Ottawa company whose mission is to strengthen the IT security operations of businesses worldwide. When we approached them to see if they were interested in conducting a GiveShop Virtual Garage Sale in support of a local charity of their choosing, they enthusiastically jumped in with both feet and selected Roger Neilson House as their charity of choice.

Roger Neilson House is about living life to the fullest. They are focused on facilitating a “home away from home” environment that fosters freedom, security, pleasure, and quality of family life for children, youth and their families, who are living with a progressive life-limiting illness, giving them access to comprehensive palliative care services.

Over the course of eight weeks, Field Effect employees worked hard to raise $1,140 for Roger Neilson House by donating, selling and buying gently used items on the GiveShop marketplace. Field Effect’s management team then generously matched and bumped that amount, allowing for a total donation of $3,570 to Roger Neilson House.

We asked our friends about their experience conducting a Virtual Garage Sale with GiveShop, and here’s what they had to say:

“GiveShop has been a valuable tool in our fundraising ‘toolbox’ this year, especially considering the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on many of our in-person fundraising events. The virtual garage sale concept is a great way for employers to engage their teams with everyone working remotely while giving back to the local community. It has also been a pleasure to work with the GiveShop development team from a charitable perspective. In our experience, they have been extremely responsive to our questions and to the needs of our partners like Field Effect Software. They are also always proactively looking for ways to continue enhancing the platform, to make it as accessible and intuitive as possible for the users.” – Lydia Blanchard, Director of Community Engagement

“We are strong believers in giving back to our community – and GiveShop made this so easy to do! It has been a valuable tool in our fundraising ‘toolbox’ this year, especially considering the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from doing any in-person fundraising events. The virtual garage sale concept was a great way for us to engage our team with everyone working remotely while giving back to the local community.” – Matt Holland, Founder, CEO, CTO, Field Effect

Funds raised through this initiative will go towards the numerous services that Roger Neilson House offers to its community including; end of life care, bereavement services, memory making and legacy building activities, perinatal hospice, respite care, Spectacular Incredible Brave Siblings, support services, symptom assessment, transitional care, visiting home hospice and the Zen Zone : Adaptive Yoga and Music Care Program. (https://rogerneilsonhouse.ca/our-services/)

GiveShop could not be prouder of the outcome of this first Virtual Garage Sale fundraising effort. We are grateful to our corporate partners at Field Effect for coming together to fundraise for Roger Neilson House, an organization doing valuable work to make a meaningful difference in the lives of vulnerable communities who need our support now more than ever!

A sincere thank-you to everyone who participated!
The GiveShop Team