Ideas can easily lead to success and change, but only if they are listened to. And thanks to an idea made by an employee at American Design and Build, $57,000 was raised to support first responder organizations across the United States.
Between the months of September and November, American Design and Build ran its Homeowners Helping Heroes charity initiative. The program allowed homeowners who completed projects with American Design and Build and its solar division, American Sentry Solar, to select a first responder or military charity they would like to support, and a portion of the proceeds from their project would be given to that organization. The Homeowners Helping Heroes initiative was inspired by an employee’s suggestion to support frontline workers and military personnel after a tumultuous year, and by the program’s end American Design and Build had raised $50,000 to be donated across six national charities, and $7,000 to be given to local organizations and initiatives.
“This program, and all the good it’s doing, just goes to show how much can become of one idea,” says Brooke Ezzo, Marketing Manager at American Design and Build/American Sentry Solar. “One conversation turned into an idea, which turned into a program that saw our employees and the homeowners we serve working together to give back to worthy causes. It’s truly inspiring.”
The charities supported in this initiative include firefighting organizations such as the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which helps to ease the financial burden of fallen responders’ families, and the Leary Firefighters Foundation, which helps to provide funding and resources to fire departments across the US. Other first responder charities supported are Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), which provides resources to families of fallen officers, and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), which provides EMT related scholarships and education for individuals wanting to join the EMT workforce. The initiative also supported military organizations such as Operation Gratitude, which sends out care packages to active-duty military personnel, and the Wounded Warrior Project, whose mission is to advocate for wounded veterans and their families.
In addition to the above organizations, American Design and Build will also be giving back to local charity organizations, including the Abingdon Volunteer Fire Co and Harford County’s Empty Stocking Fund in the hopes make local children’s holiday season a bit brighter.
American Design and Build plans to continue giving back to the local community, albeit in different ways. Inspired by the outcome of the Homeowners Helping Heroes, the company will now strive to support four different initiatives each year, and each one will come from an employee’s suggestion.
