Winter 2014 Newsletter - Red River Charitable Foundation
Transcription
Winter 2014 Newsletter - Red River Charitable Foundation
Newsletter A Year of Giving Back Winter 2014-15 President’s Letter Happy New Year and Welcome to the Red River Technology Foundation (RRTF) Winter Newsletter! This is our 2nd Edition and a lot has happened since our July issue. In 2015 we will be celebrating Red River’s 20th Anniversary. Over the last 20 years, our mantra of long term, well managed, sustainable growth has allowed us to expand our operations and remain profitable even when faced with challenging economic times. As a result of our corporate success, we have been able to substantially grow our philanthropic impact. When we established the Red River Technology Foundation in 2008 we did so with the expectation that, like our company, it would constantly grow and evolve. 2014 was a fantastic year for RRTF. In addition to expanding the number of scholarships we provided we also made a much larger impact with our Veterans. In October, we introduced a new partnership with Operation Hat Trick and we brought all of our 130 employees to the White River Junction, VT Veterans Administration for a Day of Service. We installed fitness equipment on a recreation trail, planted and mulched flower beds, and served a hot lunch and beverages to Veterans that participated in a Stand Down on the campus. The VA hospital is a critical resource for Veterans in NH and VT and all the employees of Red River were proud to donate our time and resources. As we enter 2015 we are committed to the major sponsorship for the Friends of Veteran’s hockey benefit game and their golf tournament in June. With contributions and support from our own employees we have also raised over $18,000 in heating assistance for Veterans and we will once again have a strong presence at the Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, CO in April. I am also excited to announce that we will have a 1 mile fun run and a 5K in Claremont in May to recognize the Veterans in our local community. A testament to the growth of RRTF and the impact our outreach is having was the receipt of the Dell Philanthropic Partner of the Year. Dell has been a major contributor to our annual RRTF golf event and they have stood shoulder to shoulder with us at our Community Service events during the Red River National Sales Conferences. Fittingly, our theme for 2015 will be IMPACT and it will ensure that our company continues to have a positive impact on our marketplace, our communities, and our corporate mission as we embark on the next 20 years. Regards, President, Red River Technology Foundation Advisory Board Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/RRTFRocks Tom Harte, Landmark Benefits Nancy Rosinski, Stevens High School Joe Shaw, Golfer Extraordinaire Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/RedRiverTechnologyFoundation RRTF Mission Red River Technology Foundation (RRTF) is a 501(c)(3), charitable organization with a dual mandate and mission. RRTF promotes and encourages students to continue their studies in the fields of science and technology as well as supporting US military veterans transitioning to civilian life. RRTF provides opportunities for students in middle school through college interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math with scholarships, internships, mentoring, and donations of IT equipment. RRTF supports veterans and their families by providing technology career counseling and mentorships as well as emergency monetary assistance as they integrate back into our community. Red River Named Dell PartnerDirect Philanthropic Partner of the Year Red River was honored by Dell as the 2015 Philanthropic Partner of the Year. This award recognized Red River’s commitment in giving back to the community through volunteerism and empowerment with Dell technology. Golf Classic & Scholarship Recipients In July RRTF hosted our 8th Annual Charity Golf Classic to Benefit the Red River Technology Foundation. This event is our main fundraiser for the Foundation, and we were fortunate to have great participation and sponsors. Six scholarship recipients and their families were honored guests at the event where we presented each of them $3,000, a new laptop and printer donated by Dell. “The Foundation’s scholarship efforts continue to grow. This year we had students from four different local high schools and the caliber of the students was phenomenal. We are extremely grateful for the generosity of our partners and local business owners and their ongoing support of our tournament.” Rick Bolduc, Red River CEO We would like to thank and recognize the corporate sponsors and also all those who participated in the golf tournament and donated auction items: ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ Cisco Dell Arrow/ECS EMC Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A. Arrow Electronics Hull Maynard Hersey Insurance Hewlett Packard Oracle Granite State Harley-Davidson Townline Equipment Brocade ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ Fusionstorm McGladrey & Pullen SealShield Edgewater Splunk Anthem Clearswift F5 Gallagher Flynn & Co. Green Mountain Communications ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ ■■ Ingram Micro KBZ Key Bank Mascoma Savings Bank MetLife MTS Services Propel ReArch Robert Half Sales Recruiters Synnex 2014 Scholarship Recipients Fall Mountain Regional High School Sonja Hansson Union College Major: Bioengineering Windsor High School Ethan Hill Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Major: Math/Aerospace Newport High School Hannah Merrow Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Major: Bioinformatics Stevens High School Zachary Bunnell University of Rochester Major: Engineering Cassondra Dale Worcester Polytechnic Institute Major: Electrical Engineering Kai Kleyensteuber The University of New Hampshire Major: Electrical Engineering THE DATE! SAVE THURSDAY JULY 16 RRTF’s 9th Annual Charity Golf Classic at The Quechee Club Every fall the IT department at NHTI has a semester-long course in which IT professionals are invited to come and speak to the first year students about their careers. A large percentage of the speakers are NHTI Alumni who can give the new students an idea of some of the possibilities that exist after they graduate from the program. This year Red River engineers, and NHTI alums, Matt Blanchette and Nate Lambert were asked to participate. Matt and Nate spoke to over one hundred NHTI students about an engineering career at Red River and what our company stands for. Red River and NHTI have formed a strong private/public partnership providing opportunities for students in a vast array of technology subject areas. Girl’s Technology Day In October, Red River sent three staff members to participate in the Young Women in Engineering Conference hosted by Northern Heritage Mills. KC Ibey, Amber Longdon, and Sonya Woodhams spent a whole day shaping young female minds! The workshops consisted of Architecture & Engineering, Bridge & Marine Architecture, Underwater Robotic Games & Obstacles, and Biomedical & Environmental Engineering. The event was held at the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center and was well attended by girls from 13 NH & VT high schools. A great day of fun and learning was had by all! Update from Erin Truesdell, Team Captain FRC Team 3585 It has been an exciting year for the students in the Rogue Robots of 4-H! The year began with the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) kickoff in early January. The group launched into a whirlwind six-week build season to create a robot that picked up, passed, and tossed giant exercise balls to compete in this year’s challenge, “Aerial Assist.” The team celebrated their most successful competition season yet. Postseason, the club hosted two 4-H National Youth Science projects and participated in a number of other events, such as River Valley Community College’s Family Science Night, to promote STEM education among elementary and middle school-aged students. The group also celebrated a number of team and individual successes in the summer and fall: Team 3585 reached playoff rounds at two postseason events, and three team members were selected to present at the Big E in September based on their scores at state and county 4-H events. “Thank you again for hosting us and allowing us to show you what we’ve been up to this year, and thank you for Red River’s continued sponsorship and support of the Rogue Robots. It is greatly appreciated and means that we can continue promoting STEM education in Sullivan County.” Erin Truesdell UNH Capstone Project Red River has formed a strong partnership with UNH’s Peter T Paul College of Business and Economics. In addition to employing many UNH alumni, we have visited the campus several times to provide subject matter expertise and presentations to students on areas of business and technology. Recently Red River participated in a Capstone project for a group of four Seniors. This team worked with Red River on business and technical requirement collection and product selection related to a new business application Red River would deploy. The project was a win-win, the students created a Statement of Work, completed all milestone tasks and presented to Red River and their peers to complete the Senior project. Due to the success of this 2014 program Red River has been invited to participate again in 2015 and has submitted four applications across various business units to support the UNH capstone program. Student Initiatives: Paying IT Forward New Hampshire Technical Institute Day of Service In October Red River visited the White River Junction Veterans Administration Medical Center (WRJ VAMC)and participated in a Day of Service on the campus. Over 130 Red River employees from around the country and volunteers from Friends of Veterans (FoV) joined together to complete multiple initiatives in support of Veterans and the VA. The VA-focused Day of Service was part of Red River’s Annual Meeting and included a food drive, a Stand Down, assembling and installing fitness stations throughout the VA campus, nature trail clearing, building raised flower beds, and planting fruit trees and plants. In addition to hands-on labor, Red River contributed to the cost of the fitness stations and provided lunch and a hat from Operation Hat Trick for all attendees. “Red River is a company that is clearly committed to community service. We were so very pleased that the White River Junction VA was selected for this year’s annual community service project. Despite the rain, the Red River staff worked tirelessly and completed some amazing work that will greatly benefit our Veterans and employees. It was very meaningful to have Red River join in our mission of service to Veterans.” Deborah Amdur, Director, White River Junction VA Medical Center Heating Drive We are thrilled to report our employees met and exceeded our internal fundraising goal of $18,000 to support the Friends of Veterans Heating Fund. Our donation will benefit veterans in NH and VT who are struggling to keep their heat and lights on. This is especially critical during these cold New England winters. Friends of Veterans In July RRTF was the major corporate sponsor at Friends of Veterans’ (FoV) 2nd Annual Charity Golf Tournament, held at Crown Point Country Club in Springfield, VT. The tournament was organized to raise money to support the efforts of FoV, a non-profit organization created by veterans dedicated to helping fellow veterans and their families avoid homelessness. Friends of Veterans provides confidential, compassionate and rapid response counseling and financial services to fill the void in meeting the needs of veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. All funds raised by FoV golf events go directly to meeting the needs of veterans and their families. The 3rd Annual Charity Golf Event will take place on June 8th, 2015 at Baker Hill Country Club in Newbury, NH. For more information call FoV at (802) 296-8368. Operation Hat Trick RRTF is very proud to announce a partnership with Operation Hat Trick. Operation Hat Trick (OHT) was founded by the University of New Hampshire in 2007 as a program that delivers free hats to wounded service men and woman in VA hospitals. The program is dedicated to the memory of Nate Hardy, the son of a UNH professor and his wife, and Mike Koch-two Navy SEALS who fought and died together in 2008. OHT generates awareness, support, and funding for the recovery of America’s wounded warriors. OHT pursues these goals through the sale of OHT branded merchandise, proceeds of which are distributed to selected organizations that provide direct services to our wounded warriors. During our Annual Meeting Week, Dot Sheehan, the president and founder of OHT and the Sr. Associate Athletic Director at UNH, presented the story and mission of OHT to all Red River employees. At the end of her presentation each employee was given a Red River OHT hat to commemorate the partnership. To learn more about OHT visit: www.operationhattrick.com Fort Hood Snowmass During our National Sales Conference in February 2015 Red River employees and our partners will participate in a Day of Service at the Fischer House at Fort Hood, TX. Fisher House is a “home away from home” for military personnel (both active and retired) and their families during a medical crisis. For the third time Red River will be a corporate sponsor of the Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, CO. This event in early April is the world leader in adaptive sports instruction for disabled veterans. This year over 400 veterans will participate in a number of sports including skiing, rock climbing, scuba diving and more. Honoring Veterans “Red River was honored to sponsor this fantastic charitable event and contribute to the continuing success of Friends of Veterans in their efforts to end homelessness among veterans and their families,” Dan McGee, Red River Sr. Vice President of Operations Red River/OHT baseball hats (like the one below) and black acrylic winter hats are available for purchase? Portions of the proceeds go to the Foundation and also to OHT. Email us at [email protected] to place an order! DID YOU KNOW Since 2008 RRTF has awarded over $61,000 in scholarships and laptops to 24 area students! Red River Technology Foundation is now on Facebook! Be one of the 1st 100 people to like us and you will be in a drawing to win an OHT/Red River hat! Don’t delay… Like us today! Many of the photos courtesy of James Connal Corporate Headquarters 21 Water St., Suite 500 Claremont, NH 03743 Phone: 603-448-8880 www.redriver.com Washington D.C. Office 11951 Freedom Drive, Suite 1010 Reston, VA 20190 Phone: 703-476-6300 [email protected] | Tax ID# 26-3579377