Eric's Blog: In praise of Giant Tiger

Tonight, I am attending a fashion show. Put on by Giant Tiger! I know what you’re thinking – $4 knock-off crocs, those winter hats with flaps on them, and jogging pants? What the hell kind of fashion show would this be? And you know what? You’re kind of right. That’s just what kind of fashion show this is going to be. How do I know? Because this was me last Sunday…

Yep. That’s one of those flappy hats. And yes, I am wearing jogging pants in that picture. And that little guy with me? I don’t really know what he’s doing. I found him behind one of those white boards in the fitting room and took him around with me for a time. He (she?) will not be at the fashion show. Instead, there will be a bunch of bearded bikers from the Ride For Dad, a bunch of real male models, and me. This event, held tonight at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, is the launch of the Giant Tiger Ride For Dad clothing line. I get to model the new Ride For Dad Giant Tiger briefs. Because it’s a great cause.

You know who’s interested in helping great causes? Giant Tiger. Because of my job, I have the opportunity to help a lot of charities in a lot of ways. Which is great, and I do as much of that as I can. But those charities on which I truly focus my energy are those in which I believe wholeheartedly. I research them thoroughly. For example, I have become heavily involved with Operation Come Home over the years because I saw the results they were producing, and the innovative programs they created to help homeless youth in Ottawa. I saw that the money donated to OCH went directly into key areas, whether those were job-experience-creating social enterprises, addiction counseling, education or housing programs. And you know who else saw all that? Giant Tiger.

Here is a photo of Lynda, from Operation Come Home, accepting a giant cheque from Giant Tiger as part of the grand opening of their Merivale location. After the cheque presentation, Giant Tiger gave OCH all the hot dogs and hot dog buns we could sell, and we held a barbecue all day outside the new location. I was in and out of the store for six hours, grabbing more hot dogs and more condiments. We cleaned them out of relish completely. Then paper plates. Then mustard. MUSTARD! And through it all, they just kept bringing us more stuff to sell. By the end I had free reign of the store as they just said ‘come in and take whatever you need’. The only condition was that we sold the hot dogs cheap. Like, REALLY cheap. And we raised thousands more that day, thanks to them.

I support the Ride for Dad for similar reasons that I support Operation Come Home. They are behind cutting-edge innovations in the fight against prostate cancer right here in Ottawa. They have shown incredible and definable results over the past fifteen plus years. And the money they raise – ALL of it – goes directly into awareness campaigns and research. I have put several years and a lot of time into helping Ride For Dad whenever I can – and you know who else does that? Giant Tiger. Pictured above are Dave Arntfield (far right), former Ride Captain and current Embarrassing Hipster Dad, and Terry Cairns (centre), prostate cancer survivor, longtime ride supporter, and current Sons Of Anarchy extra. Oh, and me. Dave and Terry will be among the “models” for tonight’s event, as Giant Tiger goes one step further than most supporters would by introducing a whole line of Ride For Dad branded clothing.

Every little fundraiser I attend, for whatever cause, almost always has a Giant Tiger presence. That little train, or a girl in the tiger costume, or a little booth. But when it comes to the big stuff – the stuff I put my energy and heart into – Giant Tiger does so as well. I mean, let’s be honest. When we think of Giant Tiger we think of cheap stuff like this:

This is the gang at Operation Come Home shopping at Giant Tiger for the cheapest food we could find for last year’s $24 challenge, where we lived off just $24 worth of food for a week to raise awareness of the financial difficulties faced by our homeless youth. Where better than Giant Tiger where you can get $0.88 knock-off Kraft Dinner and a $0.97 head of lettuce?

Now, not saying that the one is necessarily specifically related to the other. But have you noticed how Giant Tiger is expanding? Like, a lot? Not just this one on Merivale but several others as well across Canada. In an era when every other store seems to be closing and going out of business, Giant Tiger seems to have the one business model that allows them to continue to grow! Which is kind of unbelievable just on it’s face. But I think if you look a little deeper, there is a real connection to community that may have something to do with it. Not just a connection, but a commitment to community where it is part of the mandate of every GT location. Whatever it is, it’s working – both for Giant Tiger, and for the great local charities that benefit from their efforts.

This is not a paid post. I just really want to acknowledge Giant Tiger for being awesome.