Volunteer Week: Seventh Estate PR and Good and Co. Receive Halifax Volunteer Award and Hopes to Encourage Other Businesses to Help Out in Their Communities

Halifax, Canada, April 22, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Volunteers make a difference and today Mayor Kelly and HRM councillors will recognize some of the individuals and groups that make the HRM a great place to live.

Two of these recipients, Colleen Gareau and Chris Crowell are small business owners who are passionate about enriching their community.

“I believe we’re all responsible for rolling up our sleeves to find solutions to the challenges around us,” Gareau said.

Gareau, principal of The Seventh Estate Public Relations Group, was a planning and Games-time volunteer with the 2011 Canada Games; she is a member of the IWK Auxiliary where she has handled planning and promotions for the annual Kermesse fundraiser; is the chair of the Halifax Action Circle of Amnesty International, for which she most recently produced the stage event Voices of Celebration: International Women’s Day @ 100; and is working on a book of women’s stories for future fundraising for human rights programs. She regularly provides free PR work and workshops to local groups and artists. In the fall, Seventh Estate PR will solicit requests from charities in need of communications help.

Crowell is the vice-chair of Fusion Halifax, launched the GenNext initiative and served on the campaign management team for the United Way of Halifax region. Chris also serves on the boards for the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, where he recently led their five-year strategic planning process, and the Point Pleasant Park Advisory Committee. Chris was also the founder of East Coast Connected, an organization dedicated to engaging Atlantic Canadian expats.

Chris loves seeing the effect his volunteer work has on the community.

"The work I do in the community has been some of the most rewarding work I've done. I've met people and been involved in work that I would have otherwise never have had the opportunity to experience," he said.

Gareau hopes that these awards serve as a reminder that volunteering benefits everyone.

“There is so much to be done and it’s to everyone’s benefit to lend a hand,” she said.

“Not only is it personally rewarding, but as a small business owner, I know that business thrives in a strong community. We all do better when our communities do better.”

The awards event was the culmination of a week of activity to celebrate Volunteer Week 2011 in the HRM. Volunteer Week aims to reinforce the human values that volunteering represents and increase awareness of the vital importance of volunteerism to our communities. The ceremony took place on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at the Harbourview Holiday Inn in Dartmouth at 7 p.m.

Background

Colleen Gareau is the principal of The Seventh Estate Public Relations Group, Halifax’s goal-focused and carbon-neutral PR agency. Seventh Estate PR delivers extraordinary service in the areas of public relations counsel, communication strategy and implementation, internal communication, media relations, social media guidance and support, change communication, training and facilitation, writing and editing and website advice.

Chris Crowell is a passionate community builder, business leader and social entrepreneur. In 2007, Chris founded East Coast Connected (ECC), an organization dedicated to strategically re-engaging Atlantic Canada’s expat communities through the use of social media and grassroots network development. Chris is also the director of Third Party Technology at Open Text and the Vice-Chair of Fusion Halifax. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Carleton University and completed his Bachelor of Laws and Master of Business Administration at Dalhousie University. He was named Dalhousie’s Outstanding Young Alumnus of 2008 and was trained by Al Gore as a presenter for The Climate Change Project in 2010.

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For more information, please contact:
Laura St-Amour, Consultant
The Seventh Estate Public Relations Group
902.488.7282
Laura@SeventhEstatePR.com