It’s not every day that you get to work with an organization like Green Thumbs Growing Kids.
Green Thumbs Growing Kids is a Toronto-based non-profit registered charity that helps city-dwelling children get excited about growing their own food.
Through their hands-on food growing and environmental education programs, Green Thumbs has helped thousands of children, youth and their families learn about, grow and prepare fresh foods, all in an environmentally sustainable manner.
The organization has been in operation since 1999, but recently, the team found themselves facing a common growing pain. They needed to upgrade their hardware and software – fast. They secured a grant to help them cover the costs of the project but still needed to secure a service provider to complete the work.
Enter our founder, Wins McDonald. He first connected with Green Thumbs Executive Director Sunday Harrison at the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) in Regent Park, where they both are members. As Sunday learned more about Wins and his work, she saw an opportunity for the two to work together.
“I saw that this was his business, and I already had a relationship with him so it was just easy to move from that to a professional contract.”
Of course, Sunday had her reservations. For instance, as a non-profit director, Sunday naturally had concerns about the scope of the project. Their hardware and software upgrade needs were extensive and since the project was covered under a grant, they did not want to risk going over budget.
However, once the project got underway, she quickly realized she had little to worry about. Wins helped set up the organization’s G Suite, upgraded their operating systems to Windows 10, engineered processes, performed hardware break fixes, and provided technical and business administration support – all within budget.
“The upgrade was fantastic and we’re really happy with everything that was done.”
She continues: “Wins has good energy and is friendly and approachable. It was just easy.”
Not only was Sunday impressed with the work that was done – she also greatly appreciated how helpful Wins was both during and after the project was finished. “If I have a question, I can still ask him,” she says.
She highly recommends Wins’ services to any non-profit organizations that are looking to boost their online presence and streamline their internal tech processes.
“We need people like Wins that understand mission-driven organizations but also have a really good handle on IT.”
