Make a Difference
At Laura Kelly Designs, we believe we are a very important part of our community. We have a policy in place at all times – we never say no to anyone who asks for help. Whether it be a school mother collecting for a PTA auction, a church child seeking help for a mission trip, or a community organization raising funds for a cause – we always say yes. Our employees are all actively involved in the community, so they are all willing to contribute throughout the year too.
People are grateful for items as small as a box of note cards to write their thank you notes on after their functions are over. When they come through the doors of our store to ask for support and they immediately get a “Yes, we would love to contribute”, it creates amazing positive energy. No one likes to say “No”, and no one likes to hear “No” either!
At Laura Kelly Designs, we feel like there are a million ways to give and make a difference. It all starts with the initial contact. Many people that ask for donations are only doing it because they want to be a contribution – these people deserve to be respected.
When considering donations or ways to make a difference in our community, we reflect on the following:
- Will this request or donation of time support our company vision?
- How important is this cause to us and our Board of Advisors?
- Does this request directly benefit any of our employees (i.e. school, church, neighborhood)?
- Would it be better for this request to donate money, products, or our time? What can we afford to do this time?
As a team of employees, we donate to our community in the following ways:
- We buy 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies each Spring and offer them to our employees, and to our store patrons to snack on while they’re browsing.
- We donate to all the local schools through their PTAs and their principals with products and community volunteer hours. We allow our employees with children to leave for ALL school functions involving their children.
- We walk in the walks and sponsor walkers who are taking their time to make a difference for their chosen causes. Our primary walk is the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome research. We face paint at the walk and design the t-shirts for the volunteers. This is an important event to Laura especially because both her sister-in-law and a good friend’s son have Down Syndrome. We are also big for the Race for the Cure cause. Laura’s mother died four years ago from breast cancer and our oldest employee is a cancer survivor.
- We sponsor three area soccer teams!
- We are one of the sponsors of our town’s “Breakfast with Santa”, which supports the local fire department and EMS. We all get up at the crack of dawn once a year and serve coffee, pour syrup and help Santa with picture taking activities. It is a blast and everyone feels good when it is over. Our employees bring their kids and together we make a huge statement in our town.
Finally, when children bring us pictures or customers send us notes of appreciation, we keep them. All the notes of thanks are in a box labeled “We Matter!” We get a kick out of periodically looking through all the items in the box!
Here are a few of the charities near and dear to our hearts:
Down Syndrome Buddy Walk:
http://www.buddywalk.org/
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure:
http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm
Animal Kind:
http://www.animalkind.org/
Victory Junction Gang Camp:
http://www.victoryjunction.org/aa_home/index.html
Duke Children’s Classic:
http://dukehealth1.org/childrens_services/classic.asp
Now, go out in your community and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
