2018: A Year of Giving Back

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2018: A Year of Giving Back

Serge’s Sentiments

Happy Holidays! As I reflect back on 2018, it proved to be an incredible year full of successes and new opportunities, such as the launch of our cloud-based Internet of things platform, Hydro Connect. But if I take a close look at my favorite memories, many of them have one thing in common: giving back to our community.

Charitable giving is not always a priority for companies, but workplace giving benefits more than just nonprofit organizations who receive the donations. In fact, a recent study showed that corporate giving improves company culture, providing businesses a chance to reinforce their purpose beyond their products and services. Over the past few years, we’ve worked hard to develop a charitable culture at Hydro Systems, where giving back to our community is just as important to us as helping our customers and developing new solutions.

Hydro Systems recently partnered with United Way of Greater Cincinnati, a local nonprofit that helps positively impact the lives of over 600,000 people by utilizing the community’s passion, kindness and resources. I’m proud to say that through our campaign, Hydro Systems raised more than $47,000 by selling t-shirts and hosting raffles, bake sales, “Lunch and Learns”, and – most importantly – a grand finale event that featured a few Hydro Systems employees falling into a dunk tank, including myself!

This fall, we also collected donations for the Inter Parish Ministry Food Drive and hosted a Chili Cook-off Competition to benefit the American Cancer Society. And each year, our parent company, Dover Corporation, recognizes children of Dover employees with the Dover Sons & Daughters Scholarship. Since its inception in 2012, 256 scholarships totaling more than $1.6 million have been awarded to children of Dover employees in 13 different countries.

For me, fundraising and donating time, money and necessary items to charities is incredibly important. When I ran the 2018 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, I ran in support of Inheritance of Hope, an organization that serves children who have suffered the loss of a parent, and raised a total of over $2,000. It wouldn’t have been the same without my Hydro family supporting me from the starting line to the finish line.

From volunteering personal time to bringing new charitable ideas to the table, the staff at Hydro Systems goes above and beyond to make a difference. As a way of thanking them for their dedication and hard work, we hosted several events throughout 2018, including a picnic at Coney Island Waterpark, a Cincinnati Reds baseball game and a night out during the ISSA Show North America at Gilley’s Dallas. Most recently, we celebrated the holiday season with a Casino Night.

The importance of giving back even decks the halls of Hydro Systems with our annual giving tree – encouraging all of us to donate gifts to those in need and place them under the tree. How do you and your company give back to the community? And how do you show appreciation for your team throughout the year?