Camaraderie and a spirit of giving back had Maytag Aircraft Corporation employees all abuzz in June.  Employees from Maytag's corporate office worked together to donate more than $2,400 worth of clothes to foster children in the Colorado Springs area.

The idea for the donation sprung from a suggestion brought forth in a monthly meeting, said Maytag Pricing Analyst, Jennifer Charlton. Maytag began holding the monthly meetings in May, and their purpose is three-fold. They provide an opportunity for company President & Chief Operating Officer, Dave Nelson, to pass along any information he needs disseminated, they serve as an update on the contracts and/or projects that everyone plays a part in supporting, and they also allow for an open forum period where employees can bring up whatever they please with the human resources personnel.  

During one of these open forums, employee JoAnn White suggested the fundraiser as a potential way the company and its employees could give back to the local community.  The charity, Mattress Firm Foster Kids, is a program of the Ticket to Dream Foundation™, a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit. The organization works to periodically collect donations of clothing, funding, or even school supplies to distribute to foster children nationwide.

According to the charity website, "The U.S. foster care system is home to over 400,000 children, many of whom have entered the system with few or no possessions of their own. Foster children are often removed from their homes unexpectedly and must leave quickly with nothing but the clothes on their backs."

This mission resonated with many of the employees, many of whom have children or are around them frequently, Charlton said.  "We genuinely wanted to reach out and help," she said.  The company also supports a military family in need during the holiday season, and they had been looking for other ways to give back throughout the year. 

"For the last 20+ years we have sponsored a military family in need with children during Christmas, usually with a spouse who has been deployed, by stacking presents underneath their Christmas tree and filling their kitchen with food for the holidays," said David Nelson.

"It has simply become one of the highlights of the Christmas season for everyone in the office.  So when JoAnn suggested the clothes drive for foster kids, it was not given a second thought," he said.

They appreciated that the clothing donation project could be something in which all the employees could participate in a way that was able to benefit somebody else, Charlton said.

Armed with $500 of Maytag-donated funding, several employees went shopping for clothes for foster kids, aiming to stretch every cent. Their frugality paid off: they managed to purchase more than $2,400 worth of clothes with their given budget!

On June 24th, the employees brought their spoils to the donation collection point at a nearby Mattress Firm store.

"Just being able to get together and do something like that, it's amazing the camaraderie we have with one another," Charlton said.  "When we do things like that, we tend to band even closer. "

While not everyone could be present for the donation drop-off, all the employees were able to participate, whether through organizing, shopping or preparing the items for the collection, Charlton said.

Charlton said that Maytag hopes to continue to do these kinds of charitable activities in the future, not only near the corporate office, but also in the communities surrounding locations where it has contracts.  Maytag contracts in communities nationwide and overseas.

"Maytag Aircraft is always proud to provide something back to the community," said Nelson.  

 Of this donation, he said, "A large group gathered on a Saturday to shop for the clothes; taking their weekend to do something good. I can honestly say that everyone has learned how rewarding it can be to give and subscribes to the belief 'For whom much is given, much is required.'"  

"I could not be more proud of this group of individuals and the Maytag Aircraft team," Nelson said.