Helping Community through Student Co-op Opportunity

Hi, my name is Mady Offless, the Brock Co-op student that has been at United Way Niagara for the past four months. With my term ending, I wanted to give you a glimpse into my time here at United Way Niagara. Being a part of the Marketing and Communications department I’ve had the opportunity to work on various different projects and gain a wider understanding of all that United Way Niagara works to do with the help of the Niagara Region. Together we’re improving lives and building a stronger community.

United Way Niagara has not only been a meaningful experience, allowing me to help make an impact in a region I’ve learned and grown in as a student for the past four years, but has also given me the chance to network, learn and gain experience in a field I’m interested in.

I started my term off full steam ahead working with our team on our annual Impact Report to which I was able to help highlight partnerships and events throughout the Region. This included special projects such as Food With Friends that provides food year-round for those in need, as well as grants and funded programs like the Food Support Grant providing immediate relief to local community food programs, and the Seniors Health and Well-Being Fund that helps improve the quality of life for seniors in Niagara.

From there my responsibilities only grew, getting the opportunity to work on proposals, web copies, videos, social media graphics and content, design layouts and events. This meant being able to dip my toes into the various different streams here at United Way Niagara. I was able to learn more on the importance of a Living Wage, the impacts Community Gardens and Pop-up Markets can have, as well as the severity of the need for access to safe period products in the Niagara Region, and help to promote the efforts of these programs.

A highlight of my term came in the events portion, getting the opportunity to come together with our community partners in celebration of our collective efforts in setting an annual fundraising record of $5,270,000, at our Awards Night. During this event I was happy to accept a Sponsored Employee Award alongside a representative from Brock, as the Sponsoring Organization. This event allowed me to see, and put in my share, of all the effort that goes on behind the scenes to make the night run smoothly and seamlessly, as well as, provided me with the opportunity to network with representatives from various community partners, including my own, Brock University.

Overall, this has been a great position to finish the co-op portion of my Brock University, Business Administration Degree at and would like to thank both Brock University and United Way Niagara for making this incredible opportunity possible.

Written by Mady Offless