The school supplies are intended for school-age children in need who cannot afford school equipment – one in five children in the USA are in this situation. The backpacks and numerous school supplies are now being handed over to the local school districts of around eleven communities in the Minneapolis area in good time for the start of the new school year, and this will have a profound impact on the lives of children living in poverty – this is in the spirit of the Josef Wagner charitable foundations in every respect.
Dan Brown, who participated in packing bags at the event, says:
“Wagner and its employees have always impressed me with their generosity. This project of filling backpacks for students in need demonstrated a focus on a specific need and the best way to fill that need.”
Kingsley Ondich adds:
“The multiple production-line style table layouts pre-staged with the school supplies made for fast and accurate packing of the individual backpacks. Volunteering in the Wagner School Supply Backpacking Event was very rewarding and enjoyable. Everyone involved did a fantastic job planning, organizing, and hosting the event. It was a successful company-wide team building event and it was great to see everyone working together to achieve the goal of packing over 500 backpacks within a matter of a few short hours. Supplying essential school supplies for students throughout our community is certainly at the top of the list, I look forward to volunteering in future Wagner events.”
Jeff Hainlen, who was also there, comments:
“Volunteerism has always been something that I’ve looked forward to participating and as a new hire with Wagner I was blown away by how many people stepped up to help at this event. Definitely made me feel excited to be part of a team that looks to give back.”
The Backpacking and School Supply Drive Event is the first charitable event conducted by our American colleagues this year. It was initiated by the newly created Community Outreach Committee, which was established by Greg McGuirk, President WAGNER Americas, together with the senior management team, to support the Josef Wagner foundations. Building on the great teamwork that has already been invested in the past, the twelve members of the committee will organize future charitable events and contributions.
Greg McGuirk explains the purpose of the Community Outreach Committee:
“As human beings, most of us find fulfilment in being part of something bigger than ourselves. As employees, many of us want a more significant purpose to motivate our work than just happy customers, a better NPS score and higher profits.
Wagner’s ownership structure (being owned by a Foundation) is not something we talk much about internally or externally, but it makes our company quite unique and provides a clear connection to delivering on that bigger purpose goal.
Our move this year to create the Community Outreach Committee, and fund it with a generous but modest budget, was an intentional step toward doing more in and for the communities in which we live in line with the Foundation’s objectives. My hope is that we can do some good, help some people in need and build momentum, employee interest and steadily increase Wagner’s support for our efforts in the future. I’m grateful for the people on the Committee dedicating their time and energy toward this goal.”
