Teammates in Multiple States Join Project and Community Partners to Support Local Volunteer Efforts
September 11, 2024– Lakewood, CO — At Encore Electric, our teammates are committed to the service of our customers, our teammates, and our communities. This summer, Encore Electric teammates showed their dedication to the service of their communities by gathering away from project sites and offices to volunteer in the communities where they live and work. Here are a couple of volunteer highlights from several of the events: Mount Saint Vincent in Denver, the Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Climbing for Kids event on Mt. Bierstadt, a food drive for Needs Inc. and at the St. Joseph’s food pantry in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Mount Saint Vincent
In August, the Encore Electric Denver preconstruction team spent the day at Mount Saint Vincent to connect with the students to teach them how they interact with electrical infrastructure in their everyday lives and show them the many career opportunities available in the electrical trade. Mount Saint Vincent provides preschool, pediatric behavior health services, foster care, and individualized education to families in need in Denver, Colorado. Encore Electric has been a partner of Mount Saint Vincent for several years and is an organization our teammates volunteer to support regularly.
The Encore Electric team created an LED light building exercise and brought the Encore Electric Learning and Mobile Escape Room (ELMER). So many teammates from the Denver preconstruction team were eager to participate that the group was able to provide students with one-on-one attention, coaching, and connection for their day together.
“The students there have lived extremely challenging lives for a wide variety of reasons,” said David Scott, Encore Electric Construction Industry Advocate. “This is a special school that gives love and learning in a very 1-on-1 way to get them on the right track. We brought a glimpse of what a future could look like in the electrical trade.”
Climbing for Kids
In mid-August, 12 Encore Electric teammates joined the Pediatric Mental Health Institute (PMHI) at Children’s Hospital Colorado’s annual Climbing for Kids event to raise money and awareness for children’s mental health. The Encore Electric climbing team consisted of Thomas Baker, John Danelek, Josh Dasher and his dog, Jeffrey Englestad, Mike Funk, Jackson Kron, Jessica Linder, Charlie Mattie, Johnpaul Valenciano, Aaron Vandegrift, Meg VanderLaan, and Chris Walker.
Funds raised for the climb go directly to supporting the PMHI programs and care for kids and their families in need of early prevention, therapy, access to medical professionals, and more. Currently only 22% of children with diagnosable mental health conditions receive the care that they need, making the need to expand mental health resources to youth even more crucial.
“The construction industry also suffers from high rates of suicide and Encore Electric has taken the initiative to really promote mental health internally, so this event aligns with our own goals,” said Jessica Linder, assistant project manager. “Our participation in the climb has wide-reaching ripple effects. Encore’s support not only allows the Pediatric Mental Health Institute to care for more children who need it, but also demonstrates Encore’s willingness and commitment to illuminating the darker corners of everyday life. By participating in Climbing for Kids, Encore Electric universally upholds our core values of People, Principle, Strength, and Service both in the workplace and outside of it, and it has not gone unnoticed.”
Wyoming Food Drive
For the second year in a row, teammates in Wyoming organized a food drive to give back to the Cheyenne community. This year, Journeyman Bob Freese, who organized the first food drive last year, invited a second Cheyenne project team to compete to see which project team could collect more food to donate to the drive.
Freese and Joyce Hudson, quality and commissioning journeyman, led the charge on each of their projects as they collected donations throughout the month of August. The project teams collaborated with the general contracts and other trade partners on site, inspiring a project-wide effort to collect food and give back to their community.
“Giving back makes you feel good, and it’s good to spread good and stay engaged with your community,” said Freese. “It just takes a few people to decide to tackle a project like this and make a huge difference for our neighbors.”
The projects collected more than a truck bed’s worth of food, donating half of the collected donation to Needs of Cheyenne and half to St. Joseph’s Food Pantry. The teams brought the food to multiple donation sites in hopes that their donations would be used across the city. Freese and Hudson are already eager to continue the food drive next August, with hopes that more jobsites will join their competition to collect as many donations as possible.
These volunteer efforts are a part of the ongoing commitment that Encore Electric makes to the places where we live and work. Together with vital members of our communities, our teammates take pride in creating safer, more secure, and more caring places for all of us to live.
Remember to friend, follow and connect with Encore Electric on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.