It's common to hear owners
promote their businesses as "locally-owned and operated". This phrase is often used to persuade a customer to choose a local business over a larger "corporation" which might employ individuals outside of the region. As up-and-coming students in the workplace, we wanted to send the right message to all of our window cleaning competitors out there: it means nothing to be locally-owned unless you are community-driven.
This mindset is what led our team to partner up with the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa (B&GC) this summer. Our mission? To donate $5 of our earnings for every house cleaned, and establish a scholarship in support of a student in financial need within the B&GC. As student window cleaners, we brightened over 479 homes across the city from April through November. Running the numbers, that puts our scholarship total to a donation of $2,395!
Truthfully, our hope had been to clean 600 homes and reach a contribution goal of $3,000. While we can't do anything to add more homes cleaned in 2016, we can definitely increase our donation to the original target. So it is with great pleasure to announce that the company donation will be round up to $3,000.
This year Ottawa Student Windows was fortunate enough to receive subsidized funding through the federal government's Canada Summer Jobs program for providing youth with summer employment. This aid allowed our company to increase our marketing efforts and ultimately hire additional students for work. In turn, we cleaned more houses and were able to make a larger impact in our donation goal with the B&GC.
Matt Graves (left) presented with the Summer Jobs Program certification by MP Chandra Arya .
Above all else, our success this summer would not have been possible without the support of our clients. The power of word-of-mouth really proved itself this season, as dozens of positive testimonials placed us as the #1 rated window cleaning company in all of Ottawa on Facebook and Google! Thank you to everyone who made this possible - you supported the employment of 10 students this past summer, while also helping us reach our company donation goal towards the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa.
It's my belief that the young entrepreneurs of today feel compelled to intertwine social responsibility within their businesses, regardless of the products or services they are providing. While clean windows might not make the world a better place, it sure does help to brighten one's day. If we can help put one under-privileged student through post-secondary school at the same time, even better.
Thank you all for a wonderful 2016 season - we are excited to get back to work in the spring! If you have never tried Ottawa Student Windows' services in the past, you can get in our priority spring follow-up system here. Otherwise, feel free to pass along this message to friends and family who are looking for a brighter summer.
All the best,
Matt Graves & The Ottawa Student Windows Team
