In the latest ADDcast episode, Sandy Glenn, ADD Systems’ HR Administrator, talks about ADD Cares, the company’s volunteer-led charitable program. She celebrates employee efforts, such as the $21,000 raised for Kurling for Kids by Stanley Fong. That total includes some $3,000 in contributions from ADD as a company and fellow employees. Sandy also invites ideas for 2025 initiatives.
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Brian Cohen: Welcome to ADDcast. I’m ADD Systems’ Multimedia Specialist Brian Cohen. As we enter the holiday season, we’re taking this episode of the podcast to spotlight some of this year’s ADD Cares initiatives. And joining me today to talk about some of those initiatives is Sandy Glenn, HR Administrator at the company. Sandy, thank you so much for joining me today.
Sandy Glenn: Thanks so much for having me, Brian.
Brian: Can you start by explaining to listeners what ADD Cares is and how the program started?
Sandy: Of course. ADD Cares is our committee of employee volunteers. Basically, we get together as often as needed, and we decide together which charitable organizations we would like ADD Systems to support for each season. So each season, we try to pick two or three organizations. We plan a fun way to fundraise for them. We have always been active in the New Jersey community by supporting the Pajama Program and local food pantries, but ADD Cares kind of became our formal way of expanding our charitable efforts to all of North America so that we can represent our employees and our customer base.
Brian: Awesome. Well, let’s start with our Canadian office, where we’re working with the Sun Youth holiday basket campaign. Can you talk about that initiative a bit?
Sandy: Yeah. So Sun Youth, we support them annually. Each season, they send us a list of specific items that they need, and then we ask our employees located near our Quebec office to donate those items. And for our employees who are located remotely, they’re able to donate money, which is then used to purchase more items, and, ultimately, the baskets are delivered to local families in need.
Brian: Excellent. Now, I know in the beginning you mentioned some of the stuff that takes place here at our home office in New Jersey, where we have several different things happening this year. So let’s start with the Pajama Program. Can you talk about our history with them and maybe what’s planned for 2024?
Sandy: Sure. ADD Systems has been supporting the Pajama Program for several years. They are a national nonprofit that collects and distributes infant to adult-sized new pajamas and new books to local shelters across the country. So we fundraise and donate pajamas each year to the New Jersey chapter. Last year, we raised over $5,000 which we used to purchase 223 pajama sets, and that was in addition to all of the pajama sets that our employees donated. We have an annual holiday party in December, and we ask each guest to bring a pair of pajamas as their sort of entry fee. For 2024, our goal is to surpass our fundraising efforts from 2023.
Brian: And you had also mentioned working with the Mount Olive Food Pantry in a different drive. Can you talk about that effort?
Sandy: Yes. We try to support the Mount Olive Food Pantry at least annually with either a food drive or by serving meals. We tend to reach out to them and see whatever they need us to do. This year, we plan to host a food drive for them in January, which is when they tend to be in need after all the holiday giving slows down.
Brian: Now, I know we’re talking a lot about the holiday season, but ADD Cares is a year-round initiative. So can you talk about some of the other organizations that we’ve supported recently?
Sandy: Yeah, so this fall, we’ve supported the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and ShelterBox USA. So for the first one, a group of ADD employees attended a local walk in New Jersey, and our remote employees fundraised with a September walking challenge where there was a low entry fee, and the entry fees were all donated to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and then for ShelterBox USA, we fundraised with a college football pool and ShelterBox USA is an organization that provides boxes of essential items to people in need after a natural disaster or similar event.
Brian: And there are also some employees that do things personally in terms of giving back that ADD Cares also helps with as well, correct?
Sandy: Yes. One of our employees, Stanley Fong, who is based out of our Quebec office, participates annually in Kurling for Kids, which is an organization that fundraises for Montreal’s Children’s Hospital. In 2024, he was actually the number one fundraiser, and he raised over $21,000, so we look forward to supporting him in 2025 as well.
Brian: So along with that, are there any other programs that ADD Cares is looking towards in 2025?
Sandy: We will likely support some of the same organizations that we have supported in the past, but we are always looking for new suggestions, and we like to hear from our employees what initiatives are important to them that they would like to support. So if you have any ideas, please reach out to me and let me know.
Brian: And if anybody would like to learn more about ADD Cares, how would they go about doing so?
Sandy: if you’re an ADD employee, you can reach out to me and I’ll get you involved with our next committee meeting. Otherwise, you can stay tuned on our social media pages to see what organizations we’re supporting next season.
Brian: Sandy, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me today, and happy holidays.
Sandy: Thanks so much, Brian. You, too.
Brian: To keep up with the latest happenings at ADD Systems, visit addsys.com/blog, or connect with us on social media by following ADD Systems on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or X. If you have any questions about ADDcast, feel free to reach out to us at addcast@addsys.com. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
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