Edmonton City Centre gave a nice little holiday gift in the form of a $12,000 cheque to the Mustard Seed to end its holiday fundraiser.
The bonus for the Mustard Seed was the mall's grand finale for its Season of Giving Holiday Campaign, a way to encourage altruism through consumerism.
“2020 was an incredibly challenging year for our retailers and downtown shoppers,” said Zaina Yusuf, the mall's marketing manager. “We wanted to do our part by offering support through the Season of Giving initiative.”
The Season of Giving initiative saw prizes worth more than $41,000 given to shoppers between Nov. 18 and Dec. 18. All they had to do was spend at least $25 at any mall retailer and have their receipts validated by guest services. Alongside the $41,000 in prizes given away to shoppers, the mall announced another $12,000 was donated to the Mustard Seed, a Christian non-profit organization, along with 600 items of warm clothing.
“The Season of Giving Campaign was incredibly successful and we could not be more thrilled to have created a partnership with Edmonton City Centre and their clientele,” said Alexandra Scivoletto, Mustard Seed development specialist.
“Although the pandemic contributed to Edmonton’s most vulnerable being left in the shadows, we are grateful for ECC’s leadership in bringing to light the experience of homelessness during this time and raising much needed funds for our emergency services.”
The Mustard Seed delivers programs and services to support people's needs, including offering food, clothing, hygiene items, education, employment, health and wellness, spiritual care, and housing and emergency shelter. Visit theseed.ca to learn more.
