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Original Date: 07/21/2003
Revision Date: 01/18/2007
Best Practice : Employee Community Services Association
Electric Boat Corporation, Quonset Point Facility’s Employee Community Services Association is an effective community outreach program that benefits local, non-profit, charitable organizations and employees in times of need.
Electric Boat Corporation, Quonset Point Facility (EBQP) established the Employee Community Services Association (ECSA) as an outreach program to help employees and the community. Set up as a non-profit organization, ECSA is certified by the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Office and is managed by the ECSA committee comprised of hourly and salary employees who represent a cross-section of the workforce. The committee oversees the collection of funds through payroll deduction as well as the distribution of donated funds to various charitable organizations and to the catastrophic needs of fellow team members.
The ECSA Committee meets monthly to review monetary requests from organizations. To qualify for donations, the requesting organization must be non-profit and benefit the welfare of Rhode Islanders, nearby communities, or any EBQP employee and/or their family. If the criteria are met, the committee votes on whether to donate to the specific organization. The amount donated is based on the services provided and the organization’s size and number of people served. To show employees how their donations are distributed, thank you notes from organizations are posted on bulletin boards, and donations are listed in the Weekly Information Bulletin.
The committee also holds emergency meetings whenever an EBQP employee suffers a catastrophic event that causes an immediate financial hardship. Again, certain criteria must be met prior to receiving monetary assistance. The Committee then votes on eligibility and the amount to be given. In these cases, donations to individual employees are kept confidential. Recent distribution of funds has been to the United Way (45%), Catastrophic Fund (20%), and a Requested Assistance to Organizations (30%), with a small percentage remaining for emergency use.
The annual campaign is held in November to coincide with the local United Way Campaign. During the campaign, a bulletin of the previous year’s ECSA activity is distributed. EBQP provides prizes to employees to encourage them to become members of ECSA or to increase their donation. The annual campaign is publicized through flyers, the Weekly Information Bulletin, EBTV, Automated Time and Attendance (AT&A), and with banners placed at the gates. Committee members also staff an information table during lunch times to answer employee questions and distribute literature. EBQP has shown strong support for the ECSA by allowing the administrative work of the Committee (e.g., meetings, letter writing, payroll deductions) to be completed on company time, and by donating the campaign prizes.
In addition to monetary donations to organizations and individuals, the ECSA also sponsors and participates in other activities throughout the year including:
Rhode Island Community Food Bank collections
Rhode Island Special Olympics
American Cancer Association’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk”
Santa’s Helper Program which provides gifts for 200 local needy children
Sponsorship of employees who walk for various affiliations
Special collections (i.e., most recently for victims of the Station Night Club Fire)
The benefits realized by the ECSA have been tremendous. The program enables employees to participate in charitable giving within the community without being solicited individually. The catastrophic fund is unique and provides a means for individuals to help their colleagues in times of need. Recognition from the community has come in the form of many awards. In 2003, EBQP was honored by the Rhode Island Association for Cardiac Children as their Corporate Sponsor of the Year. In addition, the Rhode Island Special Olympics presented the ECSA with an award for ten years of continued support, and the United Way of Rhode Island presented EBQP with the Bronze Award for five consecutive years. ECSA is an effective outreach program, strongly supported by both employees and management. During the 2002 campaign, $130,000 was donated by EBQP employees, signifying a membership rise from 68% to 74%.
For more information see the
Point of Contact for this survey.
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