Early each year, nearly 150 Wachter employees meet at the annual Wachter Kickoff meeting to catch the vision for the new year.
At the 2019 annual Kickoff meeting, Chairman of the Board Brad Botteron offered a challenge — one that matters more than the bottom line. Brad challenged Wachter employees give back to their communities — in time, treasure, or talents.
But even before the Chairman’s challenge, the party planning committee at Wachter’s Lowell, Ark. office had a passion for giving back to the community.
The committee, whose roster includes Amey Ponce, Angie Gilbert, Ashley McLemore, Lissa Brown, and Megan Lloyd, started a new philanthropic initiative. These five started the Wachter Warriors Committee, a group dedicated to serving the communities where we work and encouraging other Wachter employees to participate.
“We started asking ourselves, ‘What can we do? Who can we help?’ We’ve got 300 people in this building. We aren’t as big as some of the corporations around here, but we thought about who we could get involved with to really make an impact,” said Lloyd.
Their volunteering efforts started long before the Wachter Warriors Committee became official with the Lowell office’s annual Fourth of July Company Picnic. At this event, employees would celebrate the holiday with peers and family. The committee would also bring in company vendors to help with the celebration.
“Our Fourth of July party has really become the biggest thing we do, especially now with raising $9,000 this year,” Gilbert said. “We get most of what we do for that party donated by our vendors and then donated items from them get raffled off to support a local cause.”
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Wachter Warriors Philanthropic Events in 2019
After the 2019 annual Kickoff meeting, the Lowell party planning committee heeded Brad’s challenge.
In 10 months’ time, the Wachter Warriors Committee held 17 fundraising events for fundraising, donation, and volunteering efforts. Wachter employees volunteered 470 hours time and raised $11,600.
Throughout 2019 the Wachter Warriors committee helped numerous causes and local organizations in Northwest Arkansas.
- Lowell Animal Shelter
- NWA Food Bank
- Samaritan House
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
- Project Red Friday
- Jones Elementary School
- Springdale High School
- Red Nose Day
- Operation Rucksack
- Horses for Healing
- Socktober
When asked about the philanthropic qualities that embody the employees of Wachter, Gilbert said, “they’re always so enthusiastic and ready to help, ready to do whatever needs to be done, whether it’s building a fence at the animal shelter or putting bags together at the food bank. They are just ready to get at it.”
Lloyd added that “everyone is thoughtful and they open up their eyes to seeing what others are going through… I’m glad that they are actually taking it in and really appreciating how their life is and what they are doing is impacting others positively.”
Looking to 2020, Gilbert, Lloyd, and the rest of the Wachter Warriors Committee are eager to get started on more philanthropic initiatives as the new year begins.
Wachter thanks every employee in Lowell, and across America, for your continued support to local and national causes. Your time, effort, and donations help strengthen the communities where we work and live.
Wachter employees can share their own philanthropic efforts on social media — and those of their peers — using #WachterWarriors.
