Sharing is Caring

I have many childhood memories of being instructed to play nicely with friends, to share, to work together, etc. For those of us who tended to register on the far end of the “strong willed” scale, or were downright bossy (yes, I was a bossy child), these lessons did not always hit home the first time and took constant reminders and repeated efforts on the part of teachers, parents, etc.

The current economic situation has made it necessary for these important childhood lessons to come back into play, especially for those individuals who may have not previously embraced the “sharing is caring” mentality so encouraged in childhood. As a child might work alongside a playmate to build a wall of sand to prevent the tide from demolishing a sandcastle empire, local businesses and nonprofit organizations are finding it increasingly necessary to creatively build partnerships that serve to develop greater connections with the surrounding community and fight the challenges of economic hardship.

One such commendable effort is the Signature Community Partnership between , one of the nation’s finest food stores, and , the region’s leading provider of services to the homeless in Stamford. Fairway and SLLW have joined forces to help people who are homeless prepare for, find and advance in employment. The innovative collaboration includes job training, on-the-job internships, job retention and special events. Fairway also seeks to employ St. Luke’s LifeWorks participants in its store, and has hired 35 SLLW participants to date!

This past week, SLLW hosted a special shopping event at the Fairway store, during which Fairway agreed to donate a full 25 percent of each participating customer’s receipt total to support SLLW’s mission to break the cycle of homelessness by helping people achieve and maintain permanent housing and stability in their lives. This unique partnership creatively supports local business endeavors, while at the same time helping a valuable community organization continue to provide essential services. Kudos to Fairway and SLLW for committing to working together to maximize their impact on the community!

For more information about St. Luke’s LifeWorks, please visit http://stlukeslifeworks.org or http://facebook.com/stl.lifeworks. For information about Fairway Market, visit http://www.fairwaymarket.com/.