Almost two decades ago, Quest Outreach Society launched an innovative business model: to rescue food — perfectly good cans, boxes and perishables — that would otherwise be tossed in the garbage and headed for landfills, and redirect it to hungry people in the Lower Mainland who need it most. Quest is B.C.’s only food exchange and diverts 6.6 million pounds of surplus food from landfills each year, which adds up to $7 million worth of food. Quest empties its 575-square-metre warehouse each day, providing food to hundreds of social service agencies in the region that feed 50,000 people a month. Still, Quest is capturing less than one per cent of the food being wasted. Quest was Edelman Vancouver's pro bono CSR partner from 2006-07 and we gave our volunteer time, creative energy, and consulting support free of charge.

We chose Quest as a partner after developing a comprehensive CSR strategy. It involves more than pro bono service; our staff volunteered with Quest, some of it paid time and some of it their own. Quest also needed to be re-branded and re-positioned in order to continue to attract donors and partners. As we were about to begin the re-branding process, Quest was short-listed to receive a $1 million award from a local financial institution – a competition that would bring lots of attention. This was an incredible opportunity to launch the new brand, but there was a catch. We had 10 days to do it.

While we already had the brand platform in place, we had yet to execute. In a 10-day window, we renamed the organization to reflect the brand (Quest Food Exchange), developed a new visual identity, a new web site (including writing all copy), marketing collateral (design and copy) and more. We worked with a Quest supplier to outfit their delivery trucks with the new visual identity. In the weeks following the campaign launch, we secured media coverage with the Globe and Mail, Business in Vancouver and CTV, produced a viral video, and provided more than 200 hours of volunteer time.