Essential workers are vital to our communities, as not all employees are able to work from home during the time of the COVID-19 environment. There are many ways communities promote these essential workers; one well-known example in some towns is to create a huge racket during the time nurses change shifts at a hospital. In our area, a Tupperware campaign is underway to achieve a similar gratitude.
Shauna Wirl, teacher at Churchbridge Public School a resident of the R.M. of Langenburg, joined Tupperware at the end of March. While getting started with her new venture, she noticed that there was a campaign going on which involved getting people to sponsor a soup mug which would be filled and handed out to essential service workers.
Shauna said, “My initial plan was that I would post it just to see the interest, and whatever response I received would be good for me. I had set a goal of one hundred mugs, but it didn’t matter to me if I got that or not, I just wanted to help!”
The response was astonishing.
Wirl mentioned how the interest “snowballed really quickly, and in just a few short days I had over two hundred mugs sponsored by people in our community!”
The cherry-on-top for the community-minded project was the assistance received from the Tupperware director.
There was a challenge from a Tupperware director saying that she would match the amount of cup sales from the top sponsors. “[S]he matched my 200 mugs, this was the part I wasn’t really expecting so it was mind blowing that it was happening.”
Now that the supplies are here, the Wirl family will deliver the cups over the next week. Shauna said, “[M]y family and I will be filling the cups and handing out to all the frontline workers that continue to make our world go round during this crazy pandemic. The people of our community have been so generous in their sponsorship, some donated money for the mugs, some people rounded up their donation to go towards filling the mugs and some just simply sent a donation! I am so very grateful for this all and to have this opportunity to give back!”
Wirl understands that she had an opportunity and everything seemed to come into place with the community-backing. She said, “I am fortunate that I was able to continue to work from home throughout this time, not everyone had this luxury. I would have loved to put some homemade soup or chili in the mugs but due to the volume of cups, fresh food was not an option for me.”
Shauna will not be taking any more contributions, mainly because Tupperware is backed up with orders at the moment. She explained, “I ordered the cups on April 23rd/24th and they just finished arriving. They will go to people in Langenburg and Churchbridge, some have picked certain people they want them to go to but mostly they left it up to me.”
Wirl mentioned how the intent of the project was not to receive credit for the project. The communities pushed the fundraising effort right from the start and the response was tremendous. Thanks to Shauna and the Wirl family, and also the kind-hearted individuals in our communities, for grasping the opportunity at hand to support our front-line essential service workers.
Mug sponsors included Marilyn Apland, Susan Brenner, Joann McDonell, Jennifer Blair, Gloria Dutka, Michelle Andrews, KimApland, Jocelyn Griffin, Tara Lucky, Cindy Bourgeois, Vicki Peppler, Debbie Petracek, Tanya Martin, Lorelle Anderson, Kristy Clay, Katie Apland, Lorraine Haas, Kim Fuller, Jessica Miller, Aimee Unchulenko, Lorinda Buchberger, Kim Vosper, Allison Fatteicher, Keri Zawada, Marni Carlson, Russell Apland, Tammy Putland, Luke Krienke, Brandy Hildebrandt, Deanna Yung, Aubrey Thorpe, Stacy Schappert, Kadaizy, Julie Mussell, Nikki Schmidt, Christine Hartung, Donna Hozjan, Holly Cyhla, Shane Martin, Dani Glennie, Celene Kirk, Janelle Webb, Ashley Paquette, Cindy Hawcutt, Cindy Basken, Shawna Nerbas, Jessica Kachur, Brenda Weiss, Hannah Patterson, Sandra Van Caeseele, Jo-Anne Roulston, Nicole Clarke, Leanne Fraser, Oralie DeCorby, Kristen Antosh, Jackie Buchberger, Donna Pedrick, Jason Poppenheim, Meredith Rutherford, Erika Bilan, Shayna Kemp, Sherry Apland, Michelle Zulyniak, Marcy Scherloski, Tricia Rathgeber, Lichelle Aberhart, Lynette Kaminski, Diane Bourgeois, Maxine Bourgette, Shannon Knash, Rhonda Vandenameele, Connie Popp, Cheryl Petryshyn, Karen Renton, Taunie Decorby, and Kathy Adams.