Every year Senior Consultant Anne-Marie Bujold and her family take part in a food drive for a local food bank. When the time came around again to raise funds and collect food, she thought it might be a good idea to get her colleagues in Victoria, British Columbia involved.

CGI’s Victoria office is made up of 110 CGI professionals. The team provides a wide range of services to a broad client base, but specializes, in particular, in delivering application outsourcing services to the Government of British Columbia.

In talking over the idea with a colleague, Anne-Marie learned about a food drive for the same charity organized by the Victoria Advanced Technology Council (VIATeC), a non-profit forum for tech companies throughout the Greater Victoria area. Anne-Marie spread the word to her colleagues who enthusiastically agreed to participate.

There was only one problem. The four-month food drive was already into its third week. However, the CGI volunteers, many of whom work offsite, rose to the challenge. By the end of drive, they raised $3,400 and collected three boxes of non-perishable food items.

Altogether, $167,070 in food and cash donations was raised, enough to feed 500 people for a full year. The CGI volunteers were so pleased with the outcome that they are participating in future VIATeC food drives.