12/20/10 Pregis Innovative Packaging employees gave from the heart this year. They increased their giving to the 2010 United Way campaign by 65% because they felt so strongly about the needs of Marshall County residents during this difficult economic time. Not only did Pregis employees give $7,077 to the campaign, they also collected about 70 coats for the Warm Up Marshall County program at Oliver Ford and six or seven boxes of food for the Marshall County Neighborhood Center—all during the same month! Don Ecker, Area Customer Service Manager, Central Region said the generosity “speaks volumes for the employees.”
Ecker coordinated this year’s employee campaign for the first time. Unlike past years, Pregis did not offer any incentives to encourage giving. “We simply put out the word about the need and what United Way does for the community. We’ve participated for 17 years and have been very active the last ten years since Dennis Hughes became plant manager. Dennis talked with the employees directly,” Ecker said. He admits the success of their fundraising is due to support from the top. Jennifer Maddox, United Way Executive Director agreed “Every company with caring employees has leaders that light the way by example. The leadership at Pregis is a role model for every company in Marshall County.”
Employee Jorge Mendoza commented, “Don gave a fine speech to get us motivated by explaining the needs within our community. In tough times, we have to be sensitive. People have to realize we have to help others.” And the employees responded with phenomenal success. In addition to more than doubling their contributions over last year, Pregis had several employees participate for the first time and other employees increased their donation over last year. “I’m really pleased the way we responded. It was a positive November,” said Ecker.
Pregis Innovative Packaging is a leading global provider of innovative protective packaging solutions, flexible packaging, food-service packaging and hospital supply products. They currently operate 47 facilities in 18 countries around the world. Not only have Pregis employees been generous to the community, the company is also doing a lot for the environment considerably reducing landfill waste. “We need to be good corporate citizens all around,” Ecker said.
The campaign at Pregis was successful beyond our imagination,” Maddox stated enthusiastically, “Pregis employees are the whole package!”
