Clients and friends of Toronto firm Torkin Manes will need to start saving up their loose change to be a part of the firm’s newest charitable initiative - charity piggy banks.
The firm has already begun giving out the specially designed cans, which it is asking people to fill with loose change and send off to their favourite charity, or to one of several organizations listed on the can that will also be happy to accept the donation, such as the United Way of Greater Toronto.
Torkin Manes partner Sidney Troister says the idea for a charity coin bank stemmed from two concepts: to show the firm’s clients that it has a commitment to the community and that giving is part of the firm’s culture, and to make it easy for clients to personally participate in this kind of initiative.
The cans are distributed as part of the firm’s promotional materials, and are not expensive to produce, says Troister.
“There are so many promotional items that are given out that people never use that this is something that I think any client or friend of the firm would be hopefully proud to use, and it doesn’t cost them anything, and it’s doing a good thing, and they get the charitable receipt for it,” he says.
While the firm has given out hundreds of cans over the last few weeks, Troister anticipates many more will be given out over the years. “Anything’s a start and anything more given to any charity is better than nothing,” he says.
This initiative is one of a few that the firm participates in, he says, including the Ride for Heart and an annual golf tournament for the Sick Kids Foundation.
“It was really our way of saying . . . this is something that’s culturally important in our firm and we hope that it is important enough to you and we’ll make it easy for you to be a donor, to be a giver.”
“It’s consistent with the culture of the firm, having that kind of commitment to the community, and we hope that our friends and clients latch on to the idea,” says Troister.
