Community Engagement
We know our communities are stronger when the people who live and work there are invested in making them better places to live.
In collaboration with the IDEX foundation, we are able to raise thousands of dollars for local charities. IDEX Foundation is the charitable giving organization associated with our parent company, IDEX Corporation. Founded in 2014, IDEX Foundation’s mission is to engage our customers, shareholders, and employees to create value and positively impact the communities in which we live and work.
In 2019, our teams in Rohnert Park, CA, Rochester, NY, Oak Harbor, WA, Middleboro, MA, Wallingford, CT, and Bristol, CT volunteered with or fundraised for a variety of local non-profits and schools. Here are a few examples:
Our Analytical Instruments Engineering team at our Rohnert Park facility hosted a STEM fair for the Boys & Girls Club of Sonoma-Main. The fair included eight STEM-related experiments and activities for more than 100 students. STEM experiments included a marshmallow rocket, creating a battery from a lemon, making magnetic slime, building a balloon rocket launch, and more.
A team of 20 employees at the Rochester, NY facility participated in United Way’s Day of Caring. This event is a way for teams to help local non-profits improve their facilities and give back to the community each year. This year we visited Rochester Childfirst Network to help transform their garden and build a playground. We were also proud to partner with IDEX foundation to donate $5,000 to help Rochester Childfirst Network continue to advance the quality of early education and care in Western New York, through leadership, advocacy, and innovative direct services to children.
As part of an ongoing four-year volunteer partnership, our team at Oak Harbor has assisted local high school robotics students with several amazing projects, including helping build competition robots, developing a hat with ultrasonic sensors for a visually-impaired student, and designing a prosthetic arm for a 4-year-old student. In April 2019, our team at Oak Harbor extended their local partnership to develop STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs for FIRST Washington. In collaboration with the IDEX Foundation, we granted the organization $7,500 to continue to develop the schools STEM initiatives.
At our Global Commercial Meeting, employees from all of our facilities came together for a unique team building exercise. In collaboration with Odyssey Teams, a team building and leadership training company, we were put into groups of four to design and build 25 skateboards for local underprivileged children. In this exercise we were given skateboard supplies, recipient’s first name, their favorite colors, favorite superhero, and favorite sport. We were surprised at the end of the activity with a visit from the youth and were able to hand-deliver the customized skateboards and safety gear. Being able to see their huge smiles and many sincere “thank you” comments from their appreciative moms and dads made the day even more fulfilling.
We look forward to future volunteer and fundraising opportunities this year. To see other ways we have given back to the community, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and/or Facebook.