Kimco’s Annual Holiday Party Gives Back: How Mamas for Mamas Makes Real Impact in Kelowna

Our building automation, HVAC and electrical company gathered with family and friends (and a visitor from the North Pole) at the 2024 holiday party, where we proudly raised $2,500 for local charity, Mamas for Mamas. 

It’s a Kimco giving tradition. Every year around the holidays, our building automation, HVAC and electrical technology company throws a staff party to celebrate our team — but we also use the festivities as an opportunity to give back to our community. 

We do this by holding a 50/50 draw, a raffle where half of the proceeds go to the winner of the draw and the other half go to charity. Kimco then matches the donation amount, doubling the final gift. 

It’s a wonderful time when we get to celebrate each other’s accomplishments, toast another fantastic year, and also support a local cause.

Mamas for Mamas
For the second year in a row, Kimco Controls selected to support local charity Mamas for Mamas.

Kimco’s Director of Business Development, Ken Watt, selected Mamas for Mamas again this year because of his belief in the organization’s direct impact within the community, for families, and for children — three pillars near and dear to the hearts of Kimco’s people.

“The direct result of their efforts actually goes to families in need in the Kelowna community,” he says.

The team was thrilled to raise a total of $2,500 for Mamas for Mamas in 2024, very close to last year’s $2,640 donation.

No Child Left Behind: Mamas for Mamas

When Shannon Christensen was only 23 years old she found herself pregnant, about to start a new degree, and was feeling isolated and alone.

Fighting with post-partum depression and anxiety after her baby was born 7 weeks premature, she felt lost and couldn't find a roadmap on how to do everything a new mother needed to know. The situation hadn’t improved by the time she had her second child.

Determined to build a support network for others who were struggling, Shannon founded Mamas for Mamas in Kelowna in 2015 to uplift families and caregivers.

Helping others proved to be contagious and the charity has grown to a national organization with branches in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna and Vancouver.

Committed to “giving a hand up, not just a hand out” to those in need, Mamas for Mamas takes a multifaceted approach to provide support that goes beyond a one-time donation and works to change the systems that contribute to poverty, mental health issues, housing, and food insecurity.

Life-Changing Programs

The Karma Market
At the Kelowna branch, families in need can access essentials free of charge. The free store is a safe space that provides clothing, shoes, and seasonal wear. Through an intake process, those in need can also access formula, diapers, and baby furniture.

An onsite social worker aids in navigating other vital resources like affordable housing, dental support, access to food, and other community resources.

Mental Health and Wellness Program
When mental health is at stake, you don’t always have time to wait. The Mental Health and Wellness Program, which includes Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support and Whole Mama Wellness, provides emergency clinical counselling and comprehensive support so those in need can be helped quickly and without financial barriers.

Family Court Support
This program helps fill the justice gap for low-income families, mothers experiencing domestic violence, and those experiencing and concurrent sexual assault by providing legal advocacy.

Young Mama / Teen Support Program
This mentorship-based platform brings years of experience together to take the fear and unknown out of becoming a new young parent. Structured programming teaches valuable life skills like healthy cooking on a low-income, nutritional basics, job preparation skills, budgeting, accessing community resources and more.

Invisible Homelessness Campaign
The Invisible Homelessness campaign is another hands-on initiative from Mamas for Mamas that creates sustainable housing solutions for families experiencing relative or absolute homelessness.

Sustainability means not only providing housing but also the support systems needed through advocacy, community engagement, and strategic partnerships.

Additional programming includes: Deaf and Hard of Hearing support, Sustainable Nourishment, Birthday Party Programs, and the At-Risk Comprehensive Program. See all of Mamas for Mamas programs here.

Mamas for Mamas has given a hand up to 20,359 families, distributed 78,000 pounds of food and 55K eggs through their sustainable nourishment programs, and has helped house and prevent homelessness for approximately 117,000 families since 2014.

On the Ground
While the year-round programming is invaluable, these dedicated mamas are always ready to jump in where they are needed — you’ve probably seen them on the ground helping when a crisis strikes.

When the wildfires devastated Okanagan families in 2023, the mamas were on the ground distributing much-needed essentials to those affected by the fires and taking in evacuees at their head office.

The hard work even garnered national attention when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the Kelowna office to help out.

Caring for the community never stops, and you’ll find mamas for Mamas where they are needed.

Governance: Funding That Goes Where it’s Needed
A proudly economic and socially responsible organization, Mamas for Mamas operates at an admin rate below the industry standards, 74% programming and 26% administration. That means that the most care possible can go directly to those in need.

This way of operating also allows Mamas to keep the families it serves at the heart of its decisions while remaining accountable to all donors, small or large.

Community Care at Kimco
Helping each other is a pillar of everything that Kimco stands for as a people-first company.

That goes for so much more than our team — it includes caring for our staff but also caring for our community.

We support our neighbours in the Thompson-Okanagan through ongoing partnerships with organizations like the Boys and Girls Club of the Okanagan, Maple Springs Bible Camp, JoeAnna’s House, Rutland Youth Soccer Association, and Cranbrook Bucks.

If a team member brings forward a cause that means something to them, it means something to us.

From all of us at Kimco Controls, thank you so much for everything you do for the community, Mamas for Mamas! Support Mamas for Mamas by donating here.

Work with a people-first company that has been on the cutting edge of building automation, HVAC and electrical technology in the Thompson-Okanagan for 40 years. See how Kimco can help.