Solid Signal Says, “Give to Charity!”

At this time of the year, many of us naturally think about gift-giving. The holidays have that effect on us. They also inspire many people to give to local charities. Solid Signal is proud to say that we got into the holiday spirit of helping this year!

The Signal Group recently donated to Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. The local charity collects food and personal items for needy families in and around Detroit. The idea to rally beyond the organization’s efforts came from Ruthie Weiss, Director of Human Resources. “The thought that there are needy families here in our community made us want to help in any way we could,” she explained.

Through her research, Ruthie found many deserving charities in the Metro Detroit area. She chose Gleaners because of the work it does to help people in and around where most Solid Signal employees live and work. She added, “When I contacted them about helping out, they were so appreciative that we were getting involved.” Representatives from the organization brought boxes – one for food and the other for personal items – which were set up in the Signal Group breakroom.

“It was touching to see the Signal Group family get involved,” Ruthie said. “Each day, those boxes would fill up a little more,” Ruthie added. It didn’t take us long to fill both of those boxes to the top. That was the time to contact Gleaners to pick them up. “For a week, everyone would stop by and ask me how much we donated,” Ruthie recalled. “I told them I would send out a group email when I heard back from Gleaners.”

Not long after that, Ruthie received this in an email from Yolanda Baston Food and Fund Drives Manager:

“Thank you for your donation of 354 pounds of assorted food to Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan. This generous gift will provide more than 294 meals to your hungry neighbors in need! You are helping us close our million-pound gap in distributing no- to low-cost food that goes out in the five counties that we serve. Outstanding job!”

Ruthie was proud to say that this year’s donations exceeded what Signal Group raised in 2017 by 98 pounds. “I’m so proud of everyone here for taking a moment to donate something for Gleaners,” she added. “Charity is something that’s near and dear to my heart, so it was very touching to see us all get involved on a company level.”

While holiday giving is great, there are too many families who need food throughout the year. Consider these 2018 statistics from DoSomething.org:

  • 37.2 million people lived in food-insecure households
  • 9.5 million adults lived in households with very low food security
  • 6 million children lived in food-insecure households along with food-insecure adults
  • 540,000 children lived in households with one or more child that experiences very low food security

It’s clear that a lot of people need help, many of them children. “We hope that this inspires more people to get involved with a local charity or charities,” Ruthie said. “Even if you can only donate a little, your efforts combine with others to do big things for people.” While national charities are a great option, she hopes people offer to help at least one charity in their area. “You’ll be helping to make a difference in your community, which is very important,” she added.

About the Author

Jake Buckler
Jake Buckler is a cord-cutter, consumer electronics geek, and Celtic folk music fan. Those qualities, and his writing experience, helped him land a copywriting gig at Signal Group, LLC. He also contributes to The Solid Signal Blog.