There are many nonprofit organizations in the world designed to help those in need. They range in services from the very basic to emergency medical aid or evacuation. And while these entities have a purpose, there is something more meaningful when a for-profit company decides to give back to their community.
“The idea to collect coats for kids was the result of a brainstorm,” said Susan Larsen, business development specialist with Land Title Company.
For the entire month of October, the Land Title Company will be running a campaign to gather coats for children in local shelters. The program, dubbed “Kollecting Koats for Kids,” will take donations of new or “nearly new” coats from businesses and individuals to be given to those in need.
This is not the first time the company has done something to help out the community, according to Larsen.
“For more than 16 years, the employees’ primary fundraising dollars went towards cancer research,” she said. “With a smaller number of employees here at the company, and considering the current economic climate, the consensus was to take the fundraising dollars and ‘spread the wealth.’”
The company’s employees have been helping kids since July when they raised funds and collected school supplies for kids in need.
They also will be doing their annual tradition of sponsoring families’ Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and next year the focus will change to animals in need, according to Larsen.
But the focus now is on serving the needs of Kitsap County and Land Title Company is keeping itself abreast of situations within the county that need addressing.
“These choices were based on becoming aware of specific needs,” Larsen said. “For example, certain shelters do not receive a lot of coats as donations and Land Title Company responded to that need.”
The generosity actually starts at the top with Land Title Company CEO and President Gene Kennedy, according to Larsen.
“He has always encouraged and fueled the employees’ drives,” she said. “He feels it is essential for any company, local or otherwise, to share with those in the community who are less fortunate, no matter what the business climate is.”
So far, Larsen said the community has been extremely helpful and they are off to a good start in this campaign.
“I’ve been very excited about the response,” she said. “We have a few small businesses that have called us wanting to participate and we have already collected quite a few coats.”
Anyone interested in helping out can bring their donation of a new or almost new coat to Land Title Company’s Silverdale office at 9657 Levin Road NW.
