Charity begins at home for card seller

By ELLEN READ

For many people, taking maternity leave means pushing the pause button on their career for months or perhaps years.

Not so for CanTeen fundraiser and public relations woman Ruth Labb who, thanks to phones, computers and e-mail, is busier than ever working from home.

While her 10-month-old daughter, Amara, crawls around the floor, Mrs Labb and Jan Hope - who previously held the CanTeen job - organise the group's Christmas card range.

CanTeen was established to support young people living with cancer by providing a peer support network and education and development programmes.

CanTeen gets no Government cash, relying on its own fundraising efforts, sponsorships and donations.

The Christmas card range plays a big part in this.

Every year, talented members of CanTeen paint a range of cards that become a major source of revenue.

Selected members spend a weekend in Auckland in April creating the card designs.

Around 20 usable designs are created over the weekend and this is whittled back to five for production.

The remaining artwork can be chosen by corporates who want an exclusive card.

The cards - which are blank inside for corporates to get their own messages printed - have a strong New Zealand and Pacific theme. Red and green feature prominently.

The goal is to sell 50,000 corporate cards - 36,000 have already been ordered - and orders are taken until the middle of December.

The cards are also sold to the general public.

Mrs Labb said 80 per cent of corporate sales came from return business. Clients range from lawyers to carpenters.

"We pride ourselves on giving really good service - this is a business, after all," she said.

"I've been doing this for four years now, so have a pretty good idea of what the customers want."

Her home technology means corporate customers can select a card from CanTeen's website and e-mail their order with the desired message. The specially printed cards are delivered within a week.

"It's all about that service thing. We will do whatever they want; nothing is a problem," Mrs Labb said.

"I guess it's also a story about technology allowing people to work from home under all sorts of circumstances," she said.

The cards cost $1.20 each, plus the overprinting charges. All profits go to CanTeen.

Last year, the charity bought a database of businesses, but has found that more sales come from repeat customers and the direct targeting of companies.

"Our strength is that the members - the teenagers - are involved in their own fundraising," Mrs Hope said. "Plus, it's a good look for a corporate to have a charity Christmas card."

Canteen