Press Release - 12/20/2013 - City staff raises over $6500 for charity
Lee Woodward
From:Kristin Edwards
Sent:Friday, December 20, 2013 4:01 PM
Subject:City staff raise over $6,500 for local agencies at charity bowling tournament - press
release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
SHSU – slide on Channel 7, please
IT – Please add to FB & twitter
Happy Holidays,
Kristin Edwards, TRMC
Deputy City Secretary
City staff participate in hugely successful holiday fundraiser
During a first-time charity bowling event on Thursday, December 19, the staff of the City of Huntsville raised over $6,600
and collected thousands of food items to benefit local agencies.
The five organizations benefitting from the event include the Rita B. Huff Humane Society, the SAAFE House, the Good
Shepherd Mission, the COME Center, and the Senior Center of Walker County.
According to City Manager Matt Benoit, the City staff took the lead on the event in a number of ways, coordinating four-
member teams and collecting donations from local businesses and contractors.
“I am so proud of the staff for coming together to contribute their time and money to local charities,” Benoit said. “The
Huntsville community is more than a paycheck to our employees - they sincerely care about the citizens we serve.
“I’ve said it at the State of the City Address, and I’ll say it again: we at the City have a remarkable group of dedicated
employees. They turned a small idea into something really awesome, and they deserve the credit.”
Benoit said he hopes to see additional staff-led charity events held in the future.
“Both the level of staff participation and the amount of support they raised made this event an extremely successful
effort that we hope to continue in years to come,” he said. “I would like to offer a special thanks to the City Council for
supporting our events to make this happen.”
Dr. Sherry McKibben, Neighborhood Resources Director, said more than 200 of the City’s employees participated in the
event. No City funds were used as sponsors paid for all expenses associated with the event.
“Registration for each team cost $40, and employees also purchased raffle tickets for either $1 or one food item each,”
she said. “Local businesses donated more than $3,300 in raffle items, and during the event, our employees purchased
over four hundred raffle tickets.
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“Even staff members who chose not to bowl were given the option to bowl by proxy, which gave them a way to provide
additional donations. We are very pleased with the outcome of this event, and the City’s Directors are very proud of
their employees for doing so much to benefit their community.”
Additional charity – City’s first “Angel Tree”
The staff also participated in a clothing and gift drive for children of City employees who were in need by making an
“Angel Tree” available during the Employees’ Holiday Luncheon on December 11.
According to Liesa Hackett, who spearheaded the effort along with Tammy Gann, employees were able to select a
confidential tag off of the Angel Tree which included the child’s age, gender, clothing and shoe sizes, and a gift wish.
“The Angel Tags went really fast – employees were really anxious to help out,” Hackett said. “We have a family of
employees and they were ready to help and make sure the children of that family will have gifts to open Christmas
morning. This effort was such a success, and I think Angel Trees in the years to come will be, as well.”
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