Blog

Part 3 of our 5 part end-of-the-year series about the things we appreciate here at ATR.

We’ve spent the past few weeks thinking about what we appreciate at ATR, individually and as a company. It’s my pleasure this week to pen our appreciation for the nonprofits that we work with and support. Further, I am especially pleased to share my appreciation for our ATR colleagues and the time and effort that they spend supporting so many worthy organizations.

Let me start with the organizations that we are privileged to assist.  The work that they do is vital. Our communities are stronger and our lives enriched because of them. This year ATR helped the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the American Cancer Society, Toys for Tots, the Second Harvest Food Bank, the United Way, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Bennett Clayton Foundation, and Vail Place. These organizations are essential and we appreciate the people who work to bring critical services to our communities. We are grateful for their efforts.

When I used the word privilege I really meant it. As you probably know yourself, when you give – your time, money, expertise – you get back tenfold. It’s a bit oxymoronic but it’s true – the giver actually receives. Research shows that giving is good for us.  It strengthens our connections to each other, lowers blood pressure and reduces stress and depression.  Giving to other people makes us feel happy, so it’s emotionally good as well as being physically beneficial.  Thank you to these wonderful organizations for giving us the opportunity to feel this way.

At the heart of our charitable efforts are our employees and I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for their work.  Some of ATR’s charitable support is relatively easy, such as a direct donation to sponsor a golf event, but much of our support comes about because of the individual efforts of the people of ATR working as a team. They organize fundraising events in our offices, participate in charity walks, run raffles, and more to raise the needed funds.

I’m always proud of my ATR colleagues but never more so than when I see the commitment they have toward giving back; making our communities better. Since my family started the business more than 25 years ago, we’ve been fortunate to work with amazing people – so talented and dedicated. When they bring those qualities to charitable endeavors the results are predictably great.

In addition to supporting non-profit organizations as part of the ATR team, our employees individually donate their time too. We are happy to support these individual efforts and ATR’s Voluntary Time Off program is in place to help our employees to make a difference. VTO gives people the option to use up to a week’s worth of paid time to volunteer at a charity of their choice.  It’s totally flexible. You can read to children in the hospital for an hour a week or you can schedule a full week off and go work with Habitat for Humanity.

I am never surprised but always impressed anew and moved by the energy and commitment my colleagues bring to their charitable endeavors.  They’ve used their time to support organizations like Sacred Heart Community Services, the Make a Wish Foundation, and the Alzheimer’s Association. They’ve served food, sorted canned goods and clothes, helped people learn to read, and built houses. And these are just a few examples.

Appreciation doesn’t seem quite adequate a word but it will have to do. So as the year draws to a close and we take stock of what we appreciate, the men and women who work tirelessly at non-profit organizations top the list, right alongside my colleagues at ATR.  Thank you everyone!

Andrea Brenholz
Chief Strategist, Creative Brand Marketing