Anyone who thinks Aviva just handed Joe’s Place a $50,000 gift doesn’t know Joe Dueck. Dueck, founder of Joe’s Place, fights hard for every penny his centre for youth receives. A lot of work went into the preparation of the application for the grant. Then the real work began.
Dueck lobbied hard for his application. Because the success of the application depended heavily on community support — in the form of voting — he constantly reminded people to vote online for the proposal so it would make the top 25 list.
With close to 2,500 proposals for people to choose from, he had his work cut out. And he had to get people to vote more than once. A person could vote once a day and he needed that kind of support.
Once through the voting stage and into the top 25, it was out of his hands. He had to rely on the wording of the proposal and the supportive comments that accompanied the votes to persuade the judges Joe’s Place needed $50,000 for a kitchen to provide meals for those teens who used his centre as a means to stay off the streets.
As we all know, it worked.
And if the $50,000 isn’t enough to get the job done, Dueck will be out there again persuading people to help out in any way possible to make the project succeed, be it gifts in kind, money or time.
All in all, it’s been no easy task. Aviva might have cut the cheque to make the kitchen happen, but Dueck and friends worked hard to put Joe’s Place in a position to win.
