Regina residents smash printers at fundraiser for Carmichael Outreach

Inspired by the movie Office Space, Webb’s Office Equipment decided their fundraiser for Carmichael Outreach would help those participating take out some frustrations.

Participants signed up for the opportunity to smash some office equipment with baseball bats, referencing a scene from the 1999 movie.

“Our Admin Manager had this idea, have you ever seen the movie Office Space? I feel like people would get behind that,” said Michelle Keith, Owner of Webb’s. “And we were sitting on it a little through COVID but we thought this was the year.”

“Essentially we can all take out two years worth of COVID rage and anger and aggression and what working from home has been like and we can take it out on office equipment,” adds Aurora Marinari, Developing Coordinator for Carmichal Outreach.

Launching ‘Rage (Against the Machines) for Carmichael’ via Facebook, Keith said she was concerned by the lack of registration, but participation day of was not lacking.

“We had about $500 raised pre-event for people who had pre-registered and donated before hand, it’s been busy for the day and I haven’t checked the totals to see where we’re at,” she said.

Carmichael Outreach provides much needed service to the homeless in Regina, and this fundraiser aims to help with those financial needs.

“All of the proceeds will go towards Carmichael Outreach and helping us with our programs like children’s needs, housing support and food security,” said Marinari.

“Six days a week we serve 250 meals a day at lunch time, our housing support team looks after getting people in homes and apartments and we have our free boutique where everyone’s donations go.”

She adds that Regina as a whole, has been extremely supportive, even throughout the pandemic, but fundraisers like this one, go a long way to help them out.

Those participating in Friday’s event were happy after taking out their office woes on the equipment that causes so much administrative pain.

“[I] thought this would be a fun way to take some frustrations out and we knew it would be a fundraiser for a good cause,” said Philip Legrand, who organized the team from the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.

“Being able to smash something, to hold that baseball bat and just swing it as hard as possible was a lot of fun,” adds his team member, Nancy Carlson.

“Yeah, it was good to smash some printers and let out some anger,” said Alecia Macdougall.

This is the first year of the fundraiser, but with the successful outcome, Keith believes this will become an annual event.

For those who missed participating, they can still donate funds to Charmichael Outreach by visiting the Webb’s website.