This fall, MCAP and Tango Compass Mortgage group decided to do something a little different for a team-building activity. Instead of spending money on four separate lunches for their team, Lee-Ann McEllister, Business Development Manager, invested $500 to provide lunch for 50 people at The Mustard Seed Kamloops.
“Most of the mortgage brokers in Kamloops are born and raised here and really care about donating time and resources to give back to their community,” said McEllister. “By serving lunch, we got to see the amount of food our donation provided.”
“Watching the smiles that happened during that small amount of time was inspiring.”
MCAP is one of Canada’s largest independent mortgage financing companies and Tango Compass Mortgage group, founded in 2005, brings mortgage brokers together to create additional opportunities for this group of highly driven professionals.
Mortgage brokers from Ginger J Mortgage, BC Mortgage Group, and House & Home Mortgage Co. volunteered to serve lunch. Sharon Pitts from BC Mortgage Group initially suggested volunteering at the Mustard Seed as she donates to the charity regularly and thought it might be a good place for the team to volunteer.
Any food not served at lunch is served as leftovers or turned into a different meal like soup. Anything not able to be used as leftovers is donated to a local pig farmer who, in turn, donates a pig back to The Mustard Seed every year.
McEllister noted the opportunity to come and serve also provides the opportunity to increase understanding.
“It’s not necessarily only the people in the community who are without a home who come here, but people in transition or those on a limited budget. It was a surprise to learn who in the community use The Mustard Seed as a resource,” said McEllister.
The team also toured The Mustard Seed and got a sense of the other services provided like the winter coat program and open coffee area.
“If every team in Kamloops gave back one volunteer hour per year that would have a huge positive impact on the community,” said McEllister. “I’d definitely recommend considering volunteering your time at The Mustard Seed as a team-building activity.”
