Causes and Community. Why Community Matters

by Elizabeth Denham

If nothing else, 2020 taught us how much being in community matters. It affects mental health, physical health and even the health of your business. Last year saw many franchise systems step up and innovate ways to continue building business and provide support in their franchise communities and communities at large. Here are seven businesses which have stepped up in the ways The Coterie for Women (The Franchise Woman’s parent company) has defined as necessary for success.

Participating in charity fundraisers during the holiday season has become a longstanding tradition with the Support Team Members at the Proforma Worldwide Support Centers in Cleveland, OH and Tampa, FL. This year, the Cleveland Support Center donated over 700 items to Providence House of Cleveland. In addition, Both Support Centers sent holiday greeting cards and words of good cheer to local nursing home residents who were shut in and alone during the holidays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spaulding Decon Announces the 2020 Winner of their Annual Franchise Veteran Giveaway. The winner was Kevin Haddox, a U.S. Army Veteran, who served for 11 years before beginning his career in the oil and gas industry, both on land and offshore. His franchise location will be in Acadiana, LA - the first Spaulding Decon location in the state of Louisiana.

To support the communities it continues to serve during the pandemic, Anytime Fitness is announcing new virtual programming and resources that will inspire and help new and current members to make healthy happen in 2021, including investing in the Mission of Movemeant Foundation, a nonprofit organization that designs fitness and movement programs to enable women and girls to embody confidence and develop healthy habits. By leveraging fitness and physical movement as platforms for social change, Movemeant Foundation has served as a catalyst to create a new generation of healthy, strong and self-assured young women.

The Aaron’s Company, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a leading omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions, announced a donation of $10,000 to the Westside Future Fund, an initiative that aligns the efforts of the public and private sector to provide affordable housing in one of Atlanta’s most impoverished communities. The donation comes amidst a new push by the Westside Future Fund to raise $500,000 by the end of 2020 to help alleviate additional hardship caused by the coronavirus pandemic, specifically food insecurity.

For the second year in a row, Litmos, the world’s fastest-growing enterprise learning solution, recognized the home-based travel agency franchise Dream Vacations for continued excellence of its travel agent training program, as well as their quick and effective launch of a virtual training solution for their in-person training classes and virtual events. The franchisor’s Training & Events Team won “Best Customer Training” at the 2020 SAP Litmos Lenny Awards, which celebrates exceptional businesses using training to create positive experiences for customers every day.

Stratus Building Solutions, the nation’s leading green commercial cleaning and janitorial services franchise, is excited to announce it has passed a major milestone, disinfecting more than 10,000 businesses since the pandemic began in late February.

Stratus Building Solutions quickly recognized the importance of commercial cleaning companies as the COVID-19 virus began to spread across the United States and Canada. The company was able to position itself as an expert in the field, and businesses took notice, using the services offered by Stratus to keep employees and customers safe and to increase peace of mind in the workplace.

Local Wendy’s® franchisees and operators recently donated $275,000 to Decatur, GA-based organization Camp Sunshine. The donation was made possible through the local DMA’s annual Frosty® Card Fundraiser. When a customer buys a $1 Frosty Card at any of the nearly 300 Wendy’s locations throughout Georgia and Chattanooga, they receive a free Junior Frosty with any purchase through December 31, 2020. Camp Sunshine has provided programs for children with cancer and their families for 37 years and local Wendy’s franchise organizations have partnered with the Camp since 2006.