The holidays are finally here.
For most of us, this comes with all the usual cheer and stress that the happiest time of year brings. This means get-togethers with friends and family, indulgent food we’ll eat way too much of, and agonizing over finding the perfect gifts for everyone on our lists.
Yet, at Edlong, we feel that the palpable joy that fills the air throughout this season isn’t meant to be held onto. No, it’s meant to be shared.
In fact, we believe it’s something we can share year-round to enrich the lives of those who need it most.
That’s why The Edlong Enriches Foundation makes it its mission to foster meaningful partnerships with non-profit organizations and initiatives that help empower, uplift, and change lives in our community.
We sat down with our very own Angie Lantman, Applications Manager – NA and member of the Giving Back Team, and Kami Hunt, Director of Human Resources, to learn all about this foundation and how it plans to give back this holiday season.
What is Edlong Enriches?
Lantman: Edlong Enriches is a program led by our employee-driven Giving Back Team, made up of members from across the company’s various departments and roles. We’ve got people from quality, IT, commercial, etc., who meet monthly to discuss how we can best enrich the lives of our team members here by helping those in our community.
That’s what it’s all about: finding and promoting different opportunities for the company to volunteer and benefit those around us.
How does this fit into the company’s larger vision?
Hunt: Looking at it through a Human Resources lens, I think this foundation is clearly built around Edlong’s mission and vision, “to enrich the lives of everyone we touch.”
It’s also a recognition of our #1 core value: “We’re all in this together.”
What’s important to us is that our company is built around people who share these values and naturally live them out: those who show up as a ray of sunshine and a delight to work with.
We’re also very fortunate that the owner, Laurette Rondenet, is so passionate about caring for others and using Edlong as a vehicle to do that. Seeing that is infectious.
But this is reflected in our benefits package as well. As part of our PTO, employees have Give Back Days, which allow them to have a whole day dedicated to serving others outside of work.
Lantman: I agree that Edlong Enriches is an excellent opportunity to showcase the type of people we’re fortunate enough to work with.
An example that comes to mind is when I was organizing an outreach event and posted it at the end of the day. By noon the next day, all of the slots had been filled. It speaks to just how important people across the organization feel about living these values out personally.
What are some of the organizations that Edlong Enriches partners with throughout the year?
Lantman: We’ve partnered with quite a few organizations over the years, many of which are focused on food and nutrition.
Three that we work with on a consistent basis throughout the year are Feed My Starving Children, Ronald McDonald House, and Culinary Care.
Feed My Starving Children is an organization with facilities across Northern Chicagoland that hosts food packing events several times a week. It’s a great place for church groups, high school kids who need volunteer hours, and businesses to pack nutritious meal kits for malnourished children in nearly 70 countries worldwide.
Another one that is very near and dear to my heart is the Ronald McDonald House, which provides a place for parents and families to stay while their children receive special medical treatment.
For this one Edlong team members will cook fresh meals for the families, giving them one less thing to worry about and one more way to feel taken care of. This December will be our first time volunteering here, but I really hope to make it at least a quarterly event going forward.
The other one we are very active in is Culinary Care, an organization that partners with local restaurants to deliver delicious meals to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
In addition to participating in deliveries, we create handwritten cards and notes to show our support for the patients in their struggle. Sometimes we even involve children in making their own cards.
Seeing just how much it means to all of the people and the difference it makes is what Edlong Enriches is all about.
Not to mention, noticing how much this experience impacts all of our volunteers is truly something special.
Does the Edlong Enriches team have anything special planned for the holidays?
Lantman: We will continue to partner with the previously mentioned non-profits (Feed My Starving Children, The Ronald McDonald House, and Culinary Cares), as we have throughout the year.
However, we will be cooking a special holiday meal this December for a local Ronald McDonald house, as well as a special event at Feed My Starving Children, where employees are encouraged to bring their whole families to participate. Every year that we’ve done this, our people let us know just how impactful this opportunity is.
Hunt: I can personally vouch for what Angie is saying here. Last year, I brought my kids to the holiday Feed My Starving Children event, and it was so moving to see the effect it had on my family.
My daughter was actually crying. She kept asking me all these questions because she could not wrap her head around the fact that there are children in this world who don’t have food to eat, that they are literally starving without the food we were packing.
Moments like this are why I think the opportunities Edlong Enriches offers us to give back to our immediate and broader communities are so important and impactful.
I also believe that giving back, especially during the holiday season, is a chance to reflect on how fortunate we are and how it’s our responsibility to share that with others.
From all of us here at Edlong, we wish you a happy holiday season filled with more than enough joy and hope to share.
Learn more about Edlong Enriches here.
Topics: Giving Back
Resource Type: Article