The Gift Of Giving

IMARK Group member companies share how proactive civic service makes them stronger community partners and builds a richer corporate culture.

In a famous 1961 speech (based on a prominent biblical passage), John F. Kennedy declared that “to whom much is given, much is required,” while Winston Churchill was notably quoted as saying that “you make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.”

Both leaders understood the value and importance of giving back to others in the form of community service—selfless acts that can often pay back in ways more far-reaching and meaningful than by simply impacting the bottom line of a financial statement. A range of IMARK Group member companies nationwide that are committed to supporting their local communities recently shared why they consider these philanthropic activities essential to their corporate culture.

Ways of Working

For the team at Nu-Lite, which serves the New Orleans metro area, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 marked a turning point. “Immediately after the storm, the total amount of material needed skyrocketed, while the ability to supply material nose-dived,” recalled Vice President Gary Corales. In appreciation of Nu-Lite’s customers, who stood behind the firm through the many months of operational delays and obstacles that followed in the wake of the catastrophic storm, “we partnered with our suppliers in running a two-month promotion, which we concluded by donating a percentage of our total sales to two deserving storm-related organizations—The First Responders Charity and Children’s Hospital,” he said. The community appreciation that followed along with the satisfaction Nu-Lite employees experienced from helping others convinced the company to make it an annual ritual. Nu-Lite has since donated to such other worthy causes as the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Dreams Come True of Louisiana and Team Gleason, which supports amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. “Early in 2016, devastating flood waters destroyed hundreds of homes and caused great damage to thousands of others in many of our local communities,” Corales said of the company’s latest cause, “so last year we were proud to be able to contribute more than $10,000 to each of three families to help them rebuild their lives.”

Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, The Republic Companies, a third-generation, family-owned firm, has enjoyed a century-long tradition of giving back to the community. According to President Mark Kilmer, “The Republic Companies provides financial support to more than 25 nonprofit organizations in our communities annually, with the primary focus of our charitable contributions revolving around underprivileged youth and adults.” Among the various organizations the company supports (and engages its contractors in supporting as well) is the Make-A-Wish Foundation, to which The Republic Companies has matched employee contributions and helped grant wishes to numerous children with serious health issues. “In addition, we pay 100 percent of the entry fee for any employee who participates in charitable walks or runs, such as the Race for the Cure, organize a ‘Give Warmth’ campaign every winter to collect slightly-worn winter coats for donation to local area shelters, support Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and volunteer as a corporate team in food distribution efforts through our local Riverbend Food Bank,” shared Kilmer, who added that his firm also donates electrical and mechanical materials to local Habitat for Humanity initiatives, homeless shelters and families in need. “In honor of our 100th anniversary last year, we also raised funds to build The J.S. Kimmel Technology Training Center at The Handicapped Development Center, an organization our founder helped create in 1957,” shared Kilmer. “With support from more than 140 employees, customers and community members, along with matching funds from The Republic Companies, we successfully contributed more than $40,000 to the project.

Serving all of New Jersey through five locations statewide, “we understand that devoting time and resources towards community service and support are not only good business practices, but moral obligations,” explained James Dunn, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Tinton Falls, New Jersey-based Warshauer Electric Supply. “Our customers are more than just our customers—they’re our neighbors, friends and family—and we’re proud to play an active role in the communities we serve.” Among the causes close to the more than 60-year-old firm’s heart are organizations that promote health education, awareness and the overall well-being of children and families, such as the American Heart Association and Habitat for Humanity. In addition, “every summer, we host the Central Jersey Blood Center’s annual blood drive and encourage employees, customers and local community members to participate,” shared Dunn, who noted that in 2017, Warshauer Electric will have supported the center and the local hospitals it represents for 13 years and helped save more than 700 lives. “We’re also involved with our local food banks, as well as ‘Operation Sleighbells,’ Family and Children’s Services of Monmouth County’s signature holiday toy drive, which donates to underprivileged families during the holiday season,” he said.

According to Mick Leibold, chief sales officer for Broken Arrow Electric Supply in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, “we take a variety of approaches to our community involvement and generally support four to five different organizations each year, often driven either by an employee who’s aligned with or passionate about a particular cause or a customer who has a heart for a certain cause or organization.” Among the firm’s 2017 community efforts will be the provision of more than 100 Thanksgiving dinners to families in need through the nonprofit Broken Arrow Neighbors, as well as support of Family and Children’s Services, which helps to address individuals with mental health challenges in the greater Tulsa area. “One of our firm’s highest-involvement activities is for Big Brothers and Sisters of Oklahoma, for whom we’ll host a bowling fundraiser involving 60 people on a Saturday, and we also do a pancake breakfast and a chili cook-off on their behalf,” Leibold said. “We also support Emergency Infant Services in their provision of such critical items as food, clothing, diapers and formula by sponsoring a drop box and collecting these and other necessities.”

Last year, Tampa-based Electric Supply Inc. (ESI) proudly supported more than 40 nonprofit organizations, “with particular emphasis on United Way Suncoast because it offers an excellent opportunity to help the most people through more than 60 United Way agencies,” shared President and CEO George Adams Jr., who noted that his firm’s annual bake sale and chili cook-off have been fun and popular fundraising events for the cause. ESI has also been an active advocate of the homeless through local organization Metropolitan Ministries, through which ESI volunteers distribute holiday meals and support annual food and toy drive campaigns, and has also supported such renowned national and global organizations as Toys for Tots, the Red Cross and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. “On the environmental front, ESI is proud to support Tampa Bay Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Tampa Bay estuary through scientific and educational programs, because Florida’s natural beauty won’t be sustainable unless we balance preservation of our environment with better-managed growth,” Adams said. “In addition, one of our own executives and his wife have launched a nonprofit organization designed to reduce the stigma associated with addiction and alcoholism and help advance and elevate recovery, which ESI supports based on the positive impact it will have on our community.”

A Drive to Serve

Companies active in community service agree that their efforts are difficult to quantify in monetary terms. “Whether there’s any direct return for our community service is hard to say and frankly is really not important,” Corales said. “The New Orleans community has been good to Nu-Lite for many, many years and the opportunity to give back in our own small way is worth more to us than words can ever express.”

Kilmer concurred that community service is often hard to measure in a financial sense, but that it contributes indelibly to responsible corporate citizenship. “Our employees live, worship and play in the communities we serve, so it’s important that we help support the vitality and infrastructure of many well-deserving local and charitable organizations,” Kilmer explained. Among its other benefits, “I think our active participation is a source of pride and satisfaction for our Republic Companies family, helping them to feel a part of and more engaged in both our communities and organization,” he said.

“In addition to helping worthy organizations, community service provides a rich opportunity for our employees to do positive work for the community, build teams and work together toward a common goal and drive great camaraderie within the company,” Broken Arrow’s Leibold said. “These efforts engage people who might not otherwise have gotten involved and after each event I’ve heard people express how great they feel about what we’ve done. Overall, there’s a pride in being part of an organization that takes the time and makes the investment to do good work in the surrounding community, and that pride shows itself both within the company and community.”

“Aside from being the right thing to do, giving back is good for the soul and we feel it’s our responsibility to help lift our communities when and where we can,” Adams said. “The people we want on the Electric Supply team are those who want to be part of something more meaningful than a business that only exists to earn a profit.” At the same time, he added, “community service allows employees to unleash their imaginations and creativity and inspire greater results. At the end of the day, participants will feel great about their involvement, have more pride in their workplace and help contribute to a stronger corporate culture.”

Warshauer’s Dunn agreed that community-focused activities have enabled his company and its members to deliver a true “full-service solution” and help in a more meaningful and long-lasting way than a simple, straight-forward product transaction ever could. Simply put, he said, “Involvement has given our employees the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives and future of our communities, which is as fulfilling as making a sale, because when your community succeeds and flourishes, you succeed and flourish.”