Fulfilling Vancouver Whitecaps FC Fundraising Initiatives

After the COVID-19 outbreak halted Vancouver Whitecaps FC soccer season, the Major League Soccer club quickly shifted their focus to helping those in the community affected by the pandemic.

Hemlock Connect was called upon to assist with the Whitecaps fundraising initiatives. They partnered with artist Chairman Ting to sell limited edition ‘It Takes a Village’ art prints (ittakesavillage.shop) to benefit the Vancouver Food Bank. Two versions were printed at Hemlock Printers then delivered to Hemlock Connect to pack and ship the thousands of orders placed online, helping raise over $125,000 to assist the Food Bank in providing their critical services.

The Whitecaps’ second fundraising initiative was with the Vancouver Aquarium, who joined forces to sell high performance athletic facemasks, with all net proceeds to benefit the Aquarium (vanaquashop.org/vancouver-aquarium-whitecaps-facemask). Community support exploded to eventually surpass 135,000 facemasks spread across 35,000 orders and counting.

Given the overwhelming and unexpected popularity, Vancouver Whitecaps FC continue to work tirelessly with local suppliers to produce as many facemasks per day as possible. As the facemasks are delivered to Hemlock Connect, they ship out next day using a highly efficient, bar code driven, low touch workflow. Our hard-working production team can inject over 2000 orders a day into the various shipping streams, using shipping software that selects the most cost-effective carrier to each recipient.

We are proud to provide zero-plastic and non-excessive packaging for all orders, as the facemasks are packaged in environmentally conscious paper padded envelopes. And with facemasks becoming a necessity as COVID-19 related restrictions loosen, Hemlock Connect is honoured to play a role in helping to keep BC safe.