If there’s one thing I admire about the independent dealer community besides their successes and their spirit of entrepreneurship, it’s the importance so many place on giving back to their communities, particularly around the holidays. Yes, that’s something that makes good business sense, but you can’t ignore the time, effort, and resources that elevate this spirit of giving in this the most positive of ways.
In our Elite Dealer nomination form we ask dealers to list up to three ways they give back to the community. It’s gratifying to read the many ways that dealers do indeed give back. Not everyone mentions how they give back during the holiday season, which doesn’t mean they don’t, but every nomination form we receive we discover that the dealership is giving back to their community in one way or another.
We don’t have room to detail the many ways all of this year’s Elite Dealers give back to their communities, so I’m going to present a dozen of those ways as an example of how the independent dealer community—big dealers, mid-size dealers, small dealers—gives back 12 months out of the year, not just at holiday time. Since it is the time of the holiday season, let’s start with holiday giving and branch out from there.
Each Christmas Vision Office Systems of Charlotte, NC, donates approximately 2-3,000 pounds of food to the food bank to feed the less fortunate during the holidays. The dealership fits as much food as possible into a pickup truck and delivers it several days before Christmas.
Since 2003, Prosource of Cincinnati, OH and its employees partner with St. Joseph Orphanage by providing Christmas presents each year to nearly 300 children receiving services from the St. Joseph CARE Case Management Program. Prosource team members provide the gifts; any gifts that cannot be fulfilled by team members are funded by Prosource.
Instead of employees giving a gift to Coordinated Business Systems’ (Burnsville, MN) owner Jim Orricio and his wife Donna for Christmas, employees choose a family in the community in need. Employees all donate money toward this family. In 2014, one of Coordinated’s customers/business owners (a single mom) had Stage 4 colon cancer. Her two young children really stepped it up to help their mom. Coordinated worked closely with the mom on what the family’s needs were. She wanted to make her kids Christmas special because of all the help they gave her during her treatment. Coordinated invited the family to its company Christmas party and presented the kids with all the gifts they wanted for Christmas and did not get because of financial hardship.
At Image Matters in Knoxville, TN, donations raised for casual Friday are used to provide Christmas for entire families, who must spend the holiday in the hospital.
Marco in St. Cloud, MN has been a strong supporter of the United Way since it first opened its doors in 1973. In 2015, employees raised $168,000 for the United Way through its annual campaign. During campaign week, Marco hosts a variety of fun activities for employees to participate in to encourage contributions and volunteering. Employees also participate in the United Way’s Annual Day of Caring events. All proceeds go directly to the United Way.
Systel in Fayettville, NC provides scholarship endowments to local colleges and universities for under privileged students.
CBE (Cell Business Equipment) in Irvine, CA is committed to giving back to the local community that supports their business. Five percent of all profits are donated back into the local community. Among the organizations supported are Angels on the Frontline, Arch of Southern California, Habitat for Humanity, Share for SELVES, Orange County Mission and the Southern California chapter of Easter Seals. CBE also aggressively supports local youth sports teams, community endeavors, local food banks and donates equipment to non-profit organizations.
Every year Usherwood Office Technology in Syracuse, NY attends and donates to several charities, including the CNY AutoExpo, which supports over 15 Central New York charities; Crouse Hospital in support of promoting community health; Berkshire Farms in support of local youth; St. Luke’s Nursing Home and Loretto in support of geriatric care, nursing and rehab; and Buffalo 100 in support of WNY police, fire and emergency services.
One of the things Consolidated Copier Services in McDonough, GA is most happy to do is be the primary corporate sponsor for Oneheart Ministries, a local organization for helping at-risk youth. It’ also makes donations towards causes such as help for domestic violence, teen mothers, sports for kids with disabilities, and much more. In addition some of Consolidated’s employees participate in athletic tournaments as a fundraiser for breast cancer research.
Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office in New York City budgets $800,000 a year in donations supporting such organizations as Make a Wish, National Kidney Foundation, Jewish Home and Hospital, St Christopher’s Inc., and the Jillian Fund, just to mention a few.
Rhyme’s (Portage, WI) charitable foundation, Rhyme Time, awarded six scholarships this year to graduating seniors that have been affected by cancer. In total Rhyme’s Foundation has awarded 20 scholarships in six years.
MOM in Cincinnati, OH believes in giving back to the communities in which it operates. In 2010 after seeing a need for its products and services in many area nonprofits MOM launched Jump START Your Nonprofit, a contest in which area nonprofits in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton, OH apply for a chance to win one of three office technology makeovers worth up to $20,000. This contest receives over 300 applications from area nonprofits annually. From there a team of MOM employees narrow the field down to 10 finalists in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton. We then allow the public to vote on our website for their favorite area nonprofit. Votes have increased from over 16,000 in 2010 to over 36,000 in 2012. After all the votes are tallied, the top vote-getter in each market is ranked among the other cities and they receive a $20,000, $10,000, or a $5,000 office technology makeover. Previous winners have included the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, Children’s Hunger Alliance of Columbus, One Way Farm of Fairfield, Mental Health America of Franklin County, Crayons to Classrooms, The Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Cincinnati, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, The Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati, Hannah’s Treasure Chest of Dayton, Cincinnati Center for Autism, Helping Hands of Columbus, Elizabeth’s New Life Center of Dayton, IKRON, Tyler’s Light, and Brigid’s Path. By donating over $170,000 worth of office equipment to these 15 area nonprofit agencies, these organizations have seen a dramatic increase in productivity and cost savings.
Thanks for reading.
