Supporting Our Local Communities
As I reflect on the many different activities that Enterasys has initiated in support of our local community, I am both amazed and proud. Enterasys has a Charitable Contributions Committee – a subcommittee of our employee-driven Enterasys Leadership Team (ELT). From walking in the rain to donating gear to wearing crazy hats, this group has found a way to make a difference and I think it is worth sharing some of their accomplishments.
Enterasys and the ELT Charitable Contributions Committee started off the year on the right foot by making a donation of two WAN/VPN XSR routers to Advocates Inc. – a human services provider in Massachusetts that serves 12,000 individuals and employs 850 people. The Enterasys technology connects over 20 remote offices and we were recognized by Advocates for our generous contribution with an award plaque, which is displayed in our headquarters lobby.
A dreary day won’t keep Enterasys employees away… On May 3rd, despite cold and rainy conditions, over 50 Enterasys employees, friends and family participated in the seacoast March for Babies as part of “Kailey’s Team” to raise money to prevent premature birth – the leading cause of infant death. Kailey’s Team captain was the feisty Kailey Lytle, daughter of veteran Enterasys GTAC employee, Mike Lytle. Kailey, an energetic five year old with big blue eyes, inspired the entire company with her dramatic birth story, since she was born three months early weighing a mere two pounds. Kailey’s Team came in #1 in the state of New Hampshire, raising a total of $9861.00 – more than 3x the amount raised the year before. Thanks to the support of Enterasys employees, many babies will receive life-saving and life-changing medical care that will help them to grow into healthy children.
The effort to support local communities reaches to all parts of the globe and in this area our Ireland team has been making a lot of noise. The Enterasys Shannon Cultural Promotion Project has recently sponsored a child in a developing country through the World Vision Ireland program. The child is Foday, a five year old boy from Sierra Leone. Our sponsorship will play an important part in continuing to help Foday and his family to achieve hope and self-reliance.
Whoever said that doing good and having fun can’t go hand-in-hand? Our Ireland office regularly sponsors a “Hat Day”, in which employees pay money to compete in an outlandish hat contest – the employee with the most votes wins and gets to donate to their charity of choice. The ELT adds to the contribution, making it a true company-wide effort. Recent donations in the amount of approximately $500 each have been made to Barnardos, a charity that supports disadvantaged kids throughout Ireland, and to Milford Hospice.
As Americans celebrated the Fourth of July, Enterasys Ireland sponsored an event to help people from one of the poorest townships in South Africa gain their independence by building them homes. The ELT was a proud sponsor of the Golf Classic in Aid of the Niall Mellon Township Trust, an event to raise the money needed to facilitate sending ten volunteer construction tradesmen to South Africa, including the cost of materials needed to build the homes.
I think it is evident through these activities that Enterasys is a socially responsible organization and our employees are on an on-going mission to give back to their local communities. We strive to make our success an asset to the community and this is just another reason you can feel good about partnering with and supporting Enterasys – I know it’s one of the reasons why I am proud to be CEO.