by Zenia Frendt
Community Investment Advisor
Tesoro recently wrapped up a fabulous giving campaign! Tesoro was diligent in following all of UWSL’s best practices, proving themselves a terrific example of what can be accomplished when a company gets involved in its campaign!
The Employee Campaign Manager at Tesoro, Gloria Cox, knows that part of kicking-off a campaign is getting people’s attention. So, from the very first day, she organized activities to let everyone at the refinery know what was going on. Gloria, and her dedicated committee, spent hours during shift changes handing out packs of gum at the security gates to make everyone aware that the United Way of Salt Lake campaign was starting.
Gloria also knows the value of bringing food to a meeting—and even though we held about 12 meetings, there was always either dinner or breakfast being served, depending on the time of day! As word spread, everyone in the company really started looking forward to these presentation meetings!
The meetings were also very successful due to the presence of CEO, Karma Thompson, who made sure to be present to share her story about why she believes in UWSL’s work. The difference it makes to see top members of the company sharing their United Way of Salt Lake experiences, and the reasons that they are involved in the giving campaign, cannot be overstated. This kind of “leading by example” is always respected—and effective.
In addition to all of these meetings and support from the top, Tesoro also got involved by volunteering time, expertise, and materials. Tesoro employees spent an entire day up at Camp K, where their specialized skills were used to wire sheds, rework the electrics of the entire kitchen, and do general camp maintenance. This was a huge job, but the guys from Tesoro tackled it head on, full of smiles!
The Tesoro campaign was successful on many levels. I personally thank Tesoro’s team for all that they have done to change the odds for kids and families in our community, as well as the cheer and friendliness they always shared with me—whatever time of the day I showed up!
Thank you, Tesoro! You definitely know what it means to LIVE UNITED!
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