Philanthropy is defined as “the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money the good causes”. To CBI we place such an importance on illustrating philanthropy, we consider it one of our six CORE Values. The other CORE Values include Integrity, Collaboration, Innovation, Passion and Delivering Excellence.
This year CBI will be a Silver Sponsor for the local Ask Grand Rapids Walk for Autism. This year’s walk will take place on Sunday, May 6th at the John Ball Zoo and all proceeds raised will go to the Autism Support of Kent County Program. Last year’s walk saw over 600 people take part in and in total, the Autism Support of Kent County raised over $55,000 worth of programs and resources for families affected by autism in 2017!
This event runs close to the heart of our Director of Marketing, Justin Emelander, as his 3 year old nephew Ethan was diagnosed on the autism spectrum over a year ago. Emelander and his family took part in the 2nd Annual Grand Rapids Walk for Autism last year, walking for his nephew. “This is an incredible event that brings friends and families together for a wonderful cause and I highly recommend taking part in it!”, said Emelander. “Together we can all help raise funds and awareness for each of the families affected by autism”.
CBI wanted to make sure we do more than sponsor the event. For over a month, we have hosted a competition between our departments to see who can earn the most points through their donations. Each of our four departments (Sales & Marketing, Wireless, Wireline and GTEM Solutions) were all given a donation jar. For every paper bill ($1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100) in their jar, their department would receive points added to their overall score. For every coin (nickle, dime, quarter, half-dollar, silver/gold dollar) in their jar, their department would receive negative points to their score. Together in total, we all at CBI have raised and contributed over $1,000 towards this year’s Walk for Autism! Just take a look at how into it everybody got!
If you’d like to learn more you can visit Autism Support of Kent County’s website by clicking here. If you’d like to participate in this year’s Walk for Autism or would like to donate to one of the teams taking part, you can do that by clicking here. It’s only $25 per person to walk and you get a one-time general admission pass to the John Ball Zoo, which is good for the day of the walk or any other day through the 2018 season.
A huge thank you to the Autism Support of Kent County for all the work and effort they put into this event!