Coupons For Hunger

Began 2012 | Social

There is a growing need in our community for food & household items. Coupons for Hunger (CFH) is passionately finding a way to give back without involving a lot of time or money. We, the CFH Founders, began couponing on a personal level and came up with a creative idea to acquire low-to-no cost items and donate them so that the items would directly benefit our community.

We implemented an Employee Engagement Program (EEP) at our workplace that generated enthusiasm and pride amongst colleagues as they realized that by collecting coupons they were helping people in their own backyard. The coupons these employees provided allowed us to purchase a higher volume of food and household items, which were then donated to the London Food Bank. We felt a sense of accomplishment as this initiative had great results.

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Outcomes

With the launch of this social purpose business we hope to help address the needs of the estimated 25,657 residents facing food insecurity in London, Ontario yearly. The incentive for small businesses is that high levels of employee engagement have been proven to enhance employee satisfaction thus, increasing productivity and reducing turnover. In partnership with the London Food Bank we are going to create an impact into local food sustainability for households experiencing low income and unemployment.

Organizational Structure

CFH is a “Social Purpose Business” because its role in society is two-fold. SCC serves to create

CFH Flowchart showing social and business connections to the London community — What We Do
*Grocery retailers benefit from moving inventory through their store and from being reimbursed by the vendors for the discounts given.

both an economic and a social value.

Coupons For Hunger generates economic value by delivering an Employee Engagement Program (EEP) to small businesses for a fee in the London area. This program allows small businesses to give back to the community without spending significant time or money and to obtain a tremendously attractive social impact metric to report on. As part of the EEP, employees subscribe to receive coupons from food and household item vendors. They, then, collect the coupons from their homes and drop them off in a box that Coupons For Hunger provides at their office.

“Colleen and Tonia wanted to personally collect the recycled coupons directly from our facility; with our combined efforts they have managed to achieve targeted goals and acquire quite a large inventory of products to donate to different charitable organizations.” Anthony Dillard, The Miller Group

The Coupons For Hunger team organizes this inflow of vendor coupons. At the same time, they are constantly searching for coupons in-store, online and in product packaging, which can be used in conjunction with the vendor coupons. When the timing of multiple promotions lines up, so do the Coupons For Hunger volunteers! The teams travel to various grocery retailers and purchase the food and/or household items using the coupons and promotions to acquire the goods at low-to-no cost. After this transaction, the co-founders directly donate to the various social agencies within the city of London, which are subsequently distributed to families living with food insecurity, thus creating immeasurable social value.

“Yes, this is a unique way to do some good in the community and yes the concept has generated more than $6,000 in goods for worthy entities in exchange for a mere $18, but what the idea has also done to engage employees is immeasurable.” Sean Duvall, Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation

Future

To continue our success, we will grow this on a larger scale. We have taken a hands-on approach to develop a social purpose business. Through networking, we have made key relationships with local businesses, such as Miller Waste Management, and charities, such as the London Food Bank, and have gained their support and interest.