Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY, recently sent more than 400 employee volunteers to over 20 nonprofit organizations across central New York as part of its new "A Show of Hands" corporate social responsibility campaign. Another 200 employees were stationed at the company’s headquarters assembling international aid, school supply, and homeless shelter care kits.

The initiative is part of the company’s annual Beacon of Quality event, a designated date when local facilities are closed for the day to honor employees. The morning session included business updates and an award ceremony, which recognized exceptional employees with the president’s Beacon of Quality award–the highest Welch Allyn quality recognition award bestowed on employees.

Traditionally, this summertime event also consisted of an afternoon of music, food, games, and team-building activities. However, in recognition of the company’s 95th anniversary, Welch Allyn chose to forego its traditional employee recognition festivities in favor of giving back to the surrounding communities. The afternoon session became an opportunity for the company to help its neighbors in Onondaga and Cayuga counties as Welch Allyn employees from its Skaneateles Falls facilities took the day off to help paint, landscape, build, clean, and assemble care packages for a variety of local nonprofit organizations in need of a helping hand.

"This is the first time we’ve had to manage this kind of a response from employees," said David Allyn, director of corporate social responsibility at Welch Allyn. "Some of our folks traveled to the Samaritan Center in Syracuse where they helped serve lunch to those in need. Some played kickball and led arts and crafts activities with the kids at ARC’s Camp Columbus in Auburn. And some stayed at our Skaneateles headquarters to assemble care kits with items donated by our distribution partners–just to name a few of the ways we gave back today."

Although "A Show of Hands" launched this year, Welch Allyn is not a stranger to volunteering in the local community. In the fall of 2009, the inaugural Welch Allyn Make a Difference Volunteer program brought more than 230 employees to food pantries in Onondaga and Cayuga counties. This sparked numerous employee requests for more opportunities to volunteer, which ultimately helped generate the "A Show of Hands" campaign.

"The Make a Difference program really got the ball rolling with employee volunteering," added Allyn. "After such a successful turnout in 2009, we had a lot of employees asking for another chance to give back. These are our neighbors we’re reaching out to, so this level of involvement is really an investment in the communities where our over 1,200 local employees work, live and play."

Welch Allyn is a global manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment and a complete range of digital and connected solutions.

[Source: Welch Allyn]