A Christmas Carol is the story of redemption. When Scrooge visits the home of Bob Cratchit, bearing gifts and goodwill, he is saved from a life of misery.
As kids, we would read the story or see the movie on television, and the family would discuss the act of giving, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year.
The act of sharing has carried over onto my personal family and my Shamrock family. Every employee at Shamrock works hard to give back to the community that’s been so good to us. This year we raised money for Cystic Fibrosis, Our Lady of the Wayside, and countless organizations through activities devised by Shamrock’s fundraising committee. Each year this committee comes up with ideas that are sometimes wacky but always wonderfully creative ways to raise money for various charities.
This year we’ll donate money raised by events that include Jeans Friday. I’m not a big advocate of dress down days in the workplace, but I was made an offer by the fundraising committee that I couldn’t refuse. Shamrock employees would pay good money to dress in jeans on Friday, and that money is donated to a Shamrock charity.
Because I like to see our sales team dressed for business, another favorite fundraiser of mine is that salesmen at Shamrock are required to wear a tie at work every day. If I see one without a tie, or if I hear of a man on the sales team who hasn’t worn a tie, he’s obligated to donate $100 to a charity.
Speaking of ties, during the holiday season I will sell my Christmas ties and the money raised goes to charity. It’s become a tradition at Shamrock that the men on the sales team wear holiday ties (often bought from Bob) from Thanksgiving through Christmas.
ONE LAST THING…
The fundraising committee likes to make the spirit of giving at Shamrock fun and competitive. By the time the holiday season arrives we’re generally in high gear, looking forward to donating a nice sum of money or other gifts to Shamrock’s favorite charities.
