RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC: 01 March 2022 – In the second half of 2021, IMPACT’s (now Syner-G BioPharma Group’s) employees continued their generous efforts via the Making an IMPACT (MAI) community service initiative. We continued our charitable and community outreach efforts by taking hybrid approaches to in-person and virtual service activities and celebrated our 6th annual Season of Giving campaign!
Community Lunch: Brainstorming Session
In August, MAI hosted a virtual brainstorming session to discuss volunteer opportunities for future company-wide Community Lunches that could be translated into a virtual volunteer experience for remote employees. The discussion from this brainstorming session resulted in the MAI SharePoint site and ideas for future MAI events, including hybrid in-person/virtual approaches to volunteer opportunities that allow local employees to connect with our remote coworkers.
Dress for Success Drive
In September, IMPACT employees cleaned out their closets to help unemployed and under-employed women of the NC Triangle area thrive in their professional lives. Clothing was donated to Dress for Success Triangle. A big thanks goes out to all those who supported this great cause!
Supply Drive for CC Spaulding Elementary School
To kick-off the back-to-school season, MAI hosted a teacher supply drive for CC Spaulding Elementary School in August and September. MAI “adopted” the 17 full-time teachers at CC Spaulding, a public school located in downtown Durham, NC. Together with donations from IMPACT employees, MAI provided 100% of the teachers’ classroom supply needs for the 2021-2022 school year.
Community Lunch: Dog Toys for Shelters
The MAI team hosted a community lunch in October, this time to make dog toys using upcycled materials for donation to animal shelters! Using donated clothing (old t-shirts, sheets, etc.) the MAI team put together dog toy kits containing strips of cloth, tennis balls, empty water bottles, and socks. Remote employees received their kits in the mail and joined the community lunch remotely.
Together we made braided toys, ball-toss toys, and water bottle crunch toys. Dog toys made in the office were donated to Saving Grace, a private residence and farm that serves animals most in need of help in North Carolina. Remote employees were encourages to donate their dog toys to local shelters near them.
Season of Giving
Thanks and Giving Scavenger Hunt
In November, the IMPACT MAI team kicked off the 6th annual “Season of Giving” campaign by asking for donations of clothing, food, and books for charities. To make this fun and easy, employees participated in a “Thanks and Giving” scavenger hunt, with a different focus (clothing, food, or books) highlighted each week. Employees gathered donations from their homes and either dropped them off at the RTP IMPACT office or arranged for home pickup from the charity organizations. IMPACT collected an entire car trunk full of clothes and books for PickupPlease and several bags of food for Urban Ministries of Durham and AmpleHarvest.
Toys for Tots Collection
As part of the Season of Giving, IMPACT employees generously donated new toys that were distributed to children in the area through Toys for Tots. Everyone was encouraged to think of toys they loved as a kid, and a great collection of Legos, board games, sports equipment, and other toys were donated.
Community Lunch: Cards for Chatham Commons Assisted Living Facility
This year IMPACT employees gathered for a hybrid in-person and virtual holiday event to make holiday cards for residents of the Chatham Commons Assisted Living facility. We gathered over lunch to decorate holiday cards for over 50 residents and staff! The cards were added to a festive holiday treat package that included store-bought goodies and word puzzle books provided by the Impact on Literacy team.
Holiday Team Trivia
IMPACT and MAI rounded out the year with a Holiday Team Trivia event, in which the three top teams chose charities to receive their winnings. The trivia questions- ranging from obscure factoids on holiday movies to holiday milestones in United States history- kept everyone entertained.
The winning charities were LOL Steam Center, The Women’s Center, and Autism Society of North Carolina, with donations of $1000, $500, and $150, respectively.
As part of the MAI initiative, IMPACT employees come together as a team for larger community projects several times per year. Projects are chosen based on charities or efforts that have strong connections to IMPACT employees and their families. In addition, IMPACT supports and promotes their employees’ efforts to give back to their community by providing them 4 hours of paid time off per month to pursue volunteer work.
Would you like to be a part of IMPACT’s community endeavors? Let us know! We’d love to hear from you here , or via Twitter (@ImpactPharma) or on LinkedIn . You can also keep up with our Making an IMPACT events via our quarterly newsletters!
| Media Contact:
Mark A. Cierpial, PhD, Chief Executive Officer |