Even in business, it appears that it's better to give than to receive, as some Manitoba retailers are finding ways to merge profit with passion, much to the benefit of the community.

One such retailer is Ben Moss Jewellers, a Manitoba-based retail jewelry chain with 52 stores from British Columbia to Ontario.

The company was singled out by the Retail Council of Canada in June at the Excellence in Retail Awards (ERA) Dinner as this year's recipient of the Community Outreach Award.

Ben Moss Jewellers was chosen over submissions from Best Buy/Future Shop, HBC, Sears Canada and Home Depot.

J.J. Ali, Business Edge
Ben Moss Jewellers CEO and president Brent Trepel has a new batch of teddy bears to sell to support children's charities.

"Ben Moss has done a tremendous job and is certainly an excellent example of how retailers can get involved and give back to the community," says Lanny McInnes, the Retail Council's manager of member and government relations in Manitoba.

In 1999, Ben Moss Jewellers established Ben Moss Children's Charities to provide support for underprivileged children. In 2004 alone, Ben Moss raised nearly $40,000 and captained such endeavours as the North Pole Express, chartering a plane to fly deserving youngsters high above Winnipeg's famous festive holiday lights.

"By establishing Ben Moss Children's Charities, we wanted to raise money for a charity in each marketplace where we do business," says Brent Trepel, president and CEO of Ben Moss. "We believe it's a responsibility to give back to the community that you're a part of. It's also part of our corporate culture, as we want our people to know what we stand for."

Ben Moss Jewellers, a family business now in its 96th year, has always maintained a philanthropic outlook as part of its culture, Trepel says.

Today, he and his brother Louis, the company's vice-president of marketing, carry on the tradition of giving that their grandfather started back in 1910.

On Nov. 15, National Philanthropy Day, Louis was recognized for his personal contribution in making a difference in the lives of others with the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award.

A founding member of Variety The Children's Charity of Manitoba, he also supports CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, Winnipeg Harvest, Health Science Centre, St. Amant Centre and the Coalition for Women's Shelters.

Brent Trepel does not overlook the fact that embracing a community cause often makes good business sense.

He says there are many intangible benefits that cannot be traced on paper, yet still offer a healthy return on investment.

"In the end, giving is a much greater benefit than it is a cost, although the benefits are much harder to track," he says. "You can't put a monetary value in terms of supporting the community, in terms of creating loyal people that know they work for a company that believes in giving back or in terms of customers who may make the decision to shop at your store. If people see that a business is truly part of that community - that they're not just there to take, but to give also - I think they may feel more receptive to spending their dollars at that business."

McInnes agrees that companies making a commitment to the community may have found another way to build customer loyalty.

"Good corporate citizenship shows that you're a contributor who genuinely cares," says McInnes. "By shopping in that store, customers know that they are supporting a business that supports their community. It is a good way to enhance your brand image - that it's not just about selling goods, but it's about being part of the community."

McInnes says that there are a number of ways Canadian retailers can help their communities, from creating incentive programs for volunteerism, creating in-store fundraising campaigns or simply looking for opportunities to help.

"Retailers of all sizes do an incredible amount to improve the places they work and live. 'Everyday philanthropy' is the term that's been used to describe donating time, money and energy to community projects."

Another such "everyday philanthropist" is Winnipeg-based Dufresne Furniture, which started in the resort town of Kenora, Ont., in 1986 and has grown to 10 locations and one clearance outlet across Western Canada.

Although it has been giving to charities for much of the past 19 years, the company decided to launch the Dufresne Foundation in 2004 to centralize its community efforts.

"We were giving money to many different places at any given time, and so we started the Dufresne Foundation to package it together, set up criteria and follow more of a process," says Kevin Hook, Dufresne's advertising manager. "Now we have a strategy and we've set up partnerships with different organizations, so it's got a little more purpose."

The Dufresne Foundation is a committee of volunteers with a mandate of improving the quality of life in Winnipeg and across Canada by supporting groups looking to raise funds to enhance the lives of children, families and the community. The foundation has associations with United Way, Guardian Angels, Habitat for Humanity and the Children's Hospital Foundation.

"Dufresne is a family business and this is something that's very important to the family. They feel strongly about giving back to the communities that we do business in. They see it as being the right thing to do, not necessarily as a business opportunity. It's just the right thing to do."

In November, Statistics Canada reported that once again Manitoba was the most giving province, with more than 90 per cent of Manitobans contributing cash or other donations to a charitable organization. In 2004, Manitobans made the largest per capita donations by province, with an average of $375 per person to charities.

McInnes says that the Retail Council of Canada does not have any figures available on how much Manitoba businesses give to charity each year, partly because the vast majority of retailers are small, independent companies with sole proprietorship, making donations difficult to track.

"We don't have any hard and fast numbers, but we believe that the retailers who live and work here are very much a part of the community and want to improve it in any way that they can."

(Barbara Chabai can be reached at chabai@businessedge.ca)