How does an organization measure success?
As the CEO at Five Counties Children’s Centre, I’m often asked this question by the boards and bodies that govern and oversee our work. This is totally understandable, as it’s important to ensure the public funds and private donations that flow to Five Counties are used for their intended purpose — treating and supporting children and youth with physical, developmental, and communication needs.
There are many ways to slice and dice how one is doing: benchmark, metrics, client satisfaction, key performance indicators, or return on investment.
One figure that’s unlikely to measure up is the smiles index.
While this yardstick won’t show up in our financial audit nor Ministry progress report, the smiles index does have its uses at Five Counties — including helping to gauge how we’re doing to support kids and their families.
The smiles index was off the chart at a recent treatment session in Campbellford, with little Nova, her mom Katie, and our clinicians. Nova was born with Down Syndrome and started to come to Five Counties when she was two months old. Nova is benefiting from physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy — and the smiles show it.
“Five Counties will always have your back,” says Katie. “They love and adore the kids they support as if they are their own.”
Smiles were also in abundance at the Cougars For Kids event held in mid-November at the Cobourg Cougars home game.
The fundraiser allowed our families to cheer from the stands, while also providing some Five Counties kids a behind-the-scenes experiences with the Cougars.
Harland, one of our clients, was thrilled to be at centre ice with his family doing the pre-game puck drop — his smile almost as wide as the rink.
More recently, the smiles index got a workout when organizers of the Kawartha Tri-Sport tournament dropped by Five Counties in early December with a $15,000 donation.
It was a portion of the record-breaking tally of $72,000 raised at this September’s Kawartha Tri-Sport event, which offered participants a chance to enjoy a weekend of baseball, hockey and golf while supporting local charities.
Among the tournament organizers were those who have (or know of) children who received treatment at Five Counties. That relationship led to the generous donation — and plenty of smiles all around.
A variation of the smiles index — a smiley face chart — even had a practical use at our recent All-oween accessible trick-or-treating experience, letting families share immediately how they felt about the event.
While unscientific in theory, you might say that in practice at Five Counties, smiles are made to measure!
