In times of need, if you have the privilege to be in a position to give back to your community, you should do so. Effective altruism isn’t always straightforward or simple. You have to identify what your talents are, the ways in which you can give back, where those talents could best serve the community, and how to execute your plan.

 

As one of the top print shops in Winnipeg, our talents were easy enough to understand - we can print all kinds of things, including signage. The next step was figuring out how printing signage could help our community during COVID-19. We thought of our primary client base - small businesses within the City of Winnipeg. We recognized that many of these businesses would be suffering as a result of the pandemic. Reduced hours, closures, limits on the number of people who could be in their place of business at any one time. These are some of the harsh realities that many local businesses are facing.

 

Reflecting on all of this, we realized how we could help. Businesses would, no doubt, be scrambling to find ways of keeping their customers informed of changes. They’d need to help customers understand 2 metre (6 foot) spacing, what changes were made regarding personal hygiene requirements, and other recommendations passed down by public health officials. We pride ourself on our printing and design skills and we knew that we could make signs local businesses could use to keep their customers informed. More importantly, these signs could help reduce the spread of disease and keep everyone happier and healthier.

 

We’re thrilled to say this endeavour has been a huge success. We’ve distributed COVID-related sign kits to over 400 local businesses. In total, that’s over 8500 printed pieces distributed, at no cost to the businesses who requested the kits. To illustrate how this pandemic has impacted us all, you might be interested to learn that we donated signs to businesses in over 20 different industries; the pandemic doesn’t just affect retail and food services, after all.

 

While we’re all out of free COVID-19 signage kits, we’re still open for business and we’re more than happy to help you with all of your printing and signage-related needs. On a final note, we want to say how grateful we are to be part of Winnipeg’s amazing business community. We’ve seen, over the course of this pandemic, some of the strongest, kindest, most creative people come together in order to thrive during a trying time. We’ve seen business owners supporting each other, customers supporting businesses, and an outpouring of generosity and goodwill. We’re proud to live and work in a city with such a big heart.