Community Service (2004)

KCI Pitches In to Help Baltimore’s “Believe in our Schools Campaign”—On Saturday, July 31, 2004, 26 volunteers from KCI Technologies’ Hunt Valley office volunteered to help spruce up the Glenmount K through 8 School as part of the “Believe in Our Schools Program” sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Baltimore City. Recognizing that the path to improving the financially strapped school system lies in cooperation among a wide range of business, foundations, community organizations and individuals, the Mayor has asked members of the community to help improve BCPSS facilities. The goal is to make improvements to the schools’ paintwork, bathrooms, windows and grounds over the summer to ensure the best possible opening day for students in September 2004.

The Glenmount School is located in Northeast Baltimore City and serves over 800 students. The KCI volunteers were joined by 20 other volunteers from the local community, including the school principal, assistant principals, teachers and a representative from the Mayor’s Office.

The volunteers scrubbed down and painted the cafeteria and a major hallway area that was located in a highly trafficked area. Also, several of the volunteers hauled out enough junk from the basement and sub-basement to fill a 30-foot commercial dumpster and one standard-sized dumpster. The material that was thrown out contained mold and mildew from years of water leakage in the basement of the school. Our efforts not only averted a potential public health problem, but also created three new storage/office spaces for teachers. As a result, more classroom space was created on the first two floors of the building, easing overcrowding in the school’s classrooms. Everyone had a great time, as you can see from the photos. In addition, three teens received 8 hours of community service credits for their participation. Special thanks to all who participated:

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Names KCI a Bay-Saving Hero in Annual Report—Saving the Bay is important to employees at KCI Technologies, Inc., an employee-owned civil and environmental engineering firm. This year, KCI’s employees voted to support CBF as their corporate charity. KCI sponsored a logo design competition challenging employees to create a logo blending CBF/KCI to use throughout the year.

KCI’s charity committee headed by chairman Chris Overcash, an environmental engineer with the firm, provides numerous opportunities for employees to get involved. Organizers of the charity program provide a Friday Bay fact e-mail that includes information on Bay saving events. Employees participate in events to learn more about the Bay and how to improve it. Through a tour of CBF’s award-winning “green buildings,” engineers, planners, and scientists gained insight into greater possibilities of going green. Another group took to the waters to explore the Bay by kayak. This year’s annual Kid’s Day focused on the Bay and protecting its resources. CBF lead activities that included storm drain painting and creating fish print t-shirts.

In addition to this year’s commitment, since 1997, KCI has been growing and planting underwater grasses to help bring back the Bay. This spring, employees took part in the mass planting of grasses at Otter Point. Fundraisers such as “Bagels for th Bay,” bi-monthly raffles, an NFL pool for the Bay, and an auction of items donated by other businesses and employees help to fund CBF programs to reduce pollution and restore clean water to the Chesepeake.

CBF values and appreciates all that KCI Technologies Inc., is doing for the Bay.

Newark Office Manager Coaches Team to Victory—Newark, DE, Office manager Dwight Walters coached the Praise Powerhouse bible quiz team from Praise Assembly Church in Newark to a 15-1 first-place finish at a tournament in Atlanta, GA, besting teams from Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia. Dwight’s son Nathan Walters was the tournament’s overall high scorer. For nearly 40 years, Assemblies of God churches have sponsored Bible Quiz and Junior Bible Quiz programs, which encourage students to thoroughly study the Bible while teaching teamwork, strategy, decision-making skills and sportsmanship. The Praise Assembly team has competed in several tournaments and league meets this season and has an overall record of 44-4. They will compete in the Pennsylvania-Delaware District Semi-Finals on March 20, 2004 in Pennsburg, Pa., and are hosting District Finals on April 3.

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