Over 700 Welch Allyn Employees Participate in Company's A Show of Hands Volunteer Campaign
Company's 97th anniversary celebration is an afternoon of giving back
Skaneateles Falls, NY, USA, July 13, 2012 Welch Allyn, a leading global manufacturer of frontline medical products and solutions, sent over 450 employee volunteers to over 20 non-profit organizations across Central New York on Friday, July 13, as part of its third annual "A Show of Hands" corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign. Another 250 employees were stationed at the company's headquarters assembling military aid kits, college-ready kits for OnPoint for College, emergency personal care kits for Heart to Heart International and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for local homeless shelters. The initiative is part of the company's annual Beacon of Quality event, a designated date when local facilities are closed for the day to honor employees. The morning session included business updates and an award ceremony which recognized exceptional employees with the President's Beacon of Quality award—the highest Welch Allyn quality recognition award bestowed on employees.
Traditionally, this summertime event consisted of an afternoon of music, food, games, and team building activities. However, in recognition of the company's 95th anniversary two years ago, Welch Allyn chose to forego its traditional employee recognition festivities in favor of giving back to the surrounding communities. The afternoon session became an opportunity for the company to help its neighbors in surrounding counties as Welch Allyn employees from its Skaneateles Falls and Jordan Road facilities took the day off to help paint, landscape, build, clean and assemble care packages for a variety of local nonprofit organizations in need of a helping hand.
"Welch Allyn employees truly stepped up today and helped their neighbors throughout Onondaga and Cayuga counties," said David Allyn, director of CSR at Welch Allyn. "Some of our folks, including chief operations officer Andy Clapper, traveled to the Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., where they stuffed goodie bags and helped with other preparations for its fundraising golf tournament. Some went to Hillside Children's Center in Auburn, N.Y., and helped to refurbish its baseball diamond. And some stayed at the State Street facility and put together kits for OnPoint for College to help college students have all the supplies needed for a successful semester, made sandwiches for the homeless and built emergency packages for Heart to Heart International just to name a few of the ways we gave back today."
The first "A Show of Hands" event took place in the summer of 2010 and was created in response to numerous employee requests for opportunities to volunteer in the community. Over 600 Welch Allyn employees volunteered at 24 different nonprofit organizations in Onondaga and Cayuga Counties. People had the opportunity to give back to their community in a variety of ways. The event grew in 2011 to include more than 650 employees in Skaneateles, N.Y., and expanded to the Welch Allyn facility in Beaverton, Ore.
"We had such a great response from employees the past two years that we decided to continue our 'A Show of Hands' initiative and make it an annual event," added Allyn. "People have always looked forward to the annual Beacon of Quality event even before we started volunteering, but for the past few years I have heard our employees talking about wanting to do more. These are our neighbors we're reaching out to, so this level of involvement is really an investment in the communities where our over 1,200 local employees work, live and play."
This is the first year Welch Allyn partners joined employees to help with volunteer efforts in the local community. Also participating in "A Show of Hands" were Cerner Corporation; Cardinal Health; PSS World Medical; Henry Schein; Staples, who donated many of the supplies used in the college kits; McKesson Corporation; Marietta Corporation, a hotel amenities company who supplied the soap and shampoo for the emergency personal care kits; Heart to Heart International; and members of the Health Industry Distributor Association (HIDA).
About Welch Allyn
Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, NY (USA), Welch Allyn is a leading global provider of medical diagnostic equipment and a complete range of digital and connected solutions. With 2,750 employees working in 26 different countries, Welch Allyn is a family-owned business that specializes in helping doctors, nurses, and other frontline practitioners across the globe provide the best patient care by developing innovative products, breakthrough technologies, and cutting-edge solutions that help them see more patients, detect more conditions, and improve more lives. More information about Welch Allyn and its complete line of connected products and solutions may be found at www.welchallyn.com.