ERA 2015 LOOKING BACK
Here we are already half way through January! The New Year is off to a busy start, but before we get too far ahead we want to take some time to look back at some of the great things that happened in 2015. We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our incredible donors for their continued support, and our charitable partners for all of the amazing work they do in our communities.
Donations
ERA has always been committed to providing electronic hardware to deserving individuals and charitable groups, free of charge. We have implemented a straight forward, Canada wide donation request process, stipulating that we will not deny any reasonable request made by an individual affiliated with an approved charity, non-profit, care facility or educational institution.
In 2015, we increased the number of computers we donated by roughly 25% to a total of over 1050 complete computer systems donated to groups and individuals in need. We are committed to increasing this number another 25% for 2016.
St. Peter School Receives A Truckload of Computers from ERA: And a visit from HARVEY!
We also made our largest individual donation on record, of 225 computers to the schools of Tsuut’ina Nation. This donation was made in partnership with Suncor, Fortis Alberta, TransCanada Corporation, Asset Canada, Altalink and Home Trust.
Community cleanups
In 2015 we helped 15 community associations across Canada with their annual community cleanups. ERA has always, and will continue, to offer this as a free service. We provide resources for the day of the cleanup, including a truck to remove electronics collected, staff members to help with the collection and we also assist in raising awareness about the event through our social media and online communities.
We have already started booking cleanups into 2016, if you are interested please contact us today!
New full service depot in Winnipeg Manitoba
We opened to doors to a full service depot in Manitoba, and since July 2015 have completed over 200 pickups of unwanted equipment in the area. We have started working with charitable organizations in the Winnipeg area to provide them with computer hardware to enhance their programs or provide to individuals accessing their services.
New Fundraising Program: Moolah for Macros
On May 25th, ERA officially launched our charitable fundraising program. While we are active in the community with our donation, community cleanup and awareness programs, we knew we could do more. Moolah for Macros gives charitable organizations the ability to host a collection of unwanted electronics and earn cash for their cause. This not only provides charitable orgs with much needed capital, it also helps ERA divert more e-waste through reuse or recycling.
Annual Initiatives Stepped Up
It was a busy year of events for ERA. Throughout the year there are numerous initiatives that we are a part of.
Fraud Prevention Month occurs each March, and ERA works in partnership with local law enforcement to raise awareness about fraud risks and offers some options to mitigate risk. In 2015 we were present throughout the month of March, offering free data destruction to the public as well as answering questions about the risks associated with discarded computers and electronic devices.
Fraud Prevention Month Event in Medicine Hat with Local Law Enforcement
In April, ERA celebrated Earth Day with several events in Vancouver, partnering with Oxford Properties to offer e-waste collections at three of their properties. We also hosted an event in Calgary, partnering with the Better Business Bureau and Shred-it, we offered free data destruction for both hard drives and paper documents at Deerfoot Mall. In addition, ERA attended and sponsored the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council’s annual conference in Saskatoon from the 20th to the 22nd.
We stayed busy over the summer months, and took our team downtown Calgary, set up a tent on Stephen Avenue, and had contests, free giveaways and a team of friendly staff on hand.
Stephen Ave Walk 2015
On August 20th, we hosted our 5th annual awareness and appreciation golf tournament at the scenic Inglewood Golf and Curling Club, where guests enjoyed 18 holes of golf and a great dinner at Inglewood’s Club House.
For Waste Reduction Week, we hosted 5 collection and awareness events between October 19th and 21st in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Winnipeg. At each of these events we had expert staff on hand with information about waste management, and we offered convenient options for the public to drop off their unwanted equipment.
On Giving Tuesday (December 2nd 2015), we focused on Winnipeg and made a donation of computers to Teen Stop Jeunesse to replace their aging computer lab. St. Vital MLA Nancy Allan joined us for the occasion to show her support for Teen Stop and the community.
Brand New Website
In November we launched our brand new website. We want to ensure our donors and charitable partners have access to the information they need and that applications are readily accessible, so over 2015 we worked on better ways to communicate with the community and launched www.era.ca.
Partnerships and Sponsorships
ERA worked with numerous associations to support their conferences over the year. We were proud supporters of iTech, INTERZONE, The Recycling Council of BC’s annual conference, the Recycling Council of Alberta’s annual conference and the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council’s annual conference. We became a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Saskatoon and Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce groups. We maintained memberships with Green Calgary, the Calgary and Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID), and became a partner of CIPS. ERA also holds memberships with a number of other organizations across the country in the IT and environmental sectors.