VICTORIA, BC (November 30, 2021) - “#GivingTuesday” kicked off weeks ago for the tech community on November 15th through The VIATEC Foundation Food Bank Challenge, already raising $30,938 for the Mustard Seed Food Bank so far. Since its inception in 2002, $2,396,043.72 of food and cash has been raised through Greater Victoria’s generous tech community. 

Teams can still sign up at any point in the challenge, but the sooner they start fundraising, the more time they have to top the leaderboard. For those that simply wish to contribute a donation, they can do so on the main campaign or select a team page to contribute to. 

This challenge brings together the most enthusiastic companies in Greater Victoria every year in fun and creative ways such as cook-offs, silent auctions, skill draws, CEO to CEO competitions and more. This year, the teams who raise the most overall and per employee will be recognized at VIATEC’s Holiday Homecoming on December 9th at the Empress Hotel’s Palm Court & Crystal Ballroom, with all ticket proceeds going to the VIATEC Foundation. This event marks the first larger gathering for the tech community since February of 2020. Guests can expect a lively cocktail reception with enough networking to make up for all that lost time.

“Given the realities of the pandemic, we didn't think an 800-person, sit-down dinner like the VIATEC Awards was viable, but we did know that our tech community was eager to get together in person and the registrations flying in definitely prove that,” said Dan Gunn, VIATEC’s CEO. “In addition to bringing the tech community together through this by-donation event, we will also be highlighting some top local tech news stories from 2021 to celebrate and pave a path for a positive 2022.”

Although the capacity of the venue is 500 guests, VIATEC is keeping the guest count under capacity in order to allow guests to feel more comfortable in the space. Attendance at the event requires that all attendees provide proof of full vaccination via the provincial QR code app and when guests aren’t eating or drinking, they must wear a mask. 

More Information:

• 2021 VIATEC Foundation Food Bank Challenge 
  • Promo Package (including photo options)
• VIATEC’s Holiday Homecoming, Dec 9 (Any media wishing to attend can simply fill out the registration)

MEDIA CONTACT:

Dan Gunn, CEO

VIATEC

dgunn@viatec.ca

250-882-2820

ABOUT THE VIATEC FOUNDATION:
The VIATEC Foundation was founded to encourage, support and enable the generosity of the Victoria tech community by bringing them together for greater impact, coordinating their efforts, collecting and sharing the amount and impact of their philanthropic activities, and reducing the time and effort of individual tech companies reviewing requests for support. It focuses its support on initiatives directed at Diversity and Inclusion, Access to Innovation, Social Impact through Innovation, Food Security and Education. Click here to see the projects and organizations supported through the VIATEC Foundation.