pan am place - bold in the cold fundraising campaign

Pan Am Place is a non-profit transitional home for at-risk young men in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Typically, the residents are near or closing in on what some would call “rock bottom” – meaning in the sprawls of addiction, homeless or fresh from a jail sentence. The approach Pan Am Place uses is different than any other halfway house or shelter though. The facility holds residents accountable by having them complete a minimum of 3 or 4 hours of chores every week and 3 or 4 hours of boxing fitness classes.

I’m telling you all this because Pan Am Place holds an immovable place in my heart. To work with me is to know me, and this organization is a giant part of me. I worked as a resident supervisor there for over 7 years and got to see firsthand the power that Pan Am Place holds.

At the very beginning of my career in advertising, I took on the role of social media manager and assisted in marketing the organization. With a non-profit-sized team (just me), I became the voice of Pan Am Place online, dedicated to telling residents’ stories, sharing day-to-day life and drumming up donations for various fundraisers; fundraisers such as Bold in the Cold – where participants spend 12 hours outside in the middle of a Winnipeg winter night – with the goal of recognizing the privilege most of us get to enjoy for a lifetime: a roof over our heads and a warm bed to crawl into.

With minimal government grants at the time, these fundraisers were essential to keeping Pan Am Place in operation. I named the event, got to work spreading the good online and in-person word and I also proudly participated in the overnight experience.

We raised nearly $40, 000 and garnered serious media attention from around the country and the sport of boxing.