Volume
2005, Issue 2
June 21, 2005
Inside this Issue:HQ Happenings Project Highlights Working in IIa About
IIa Staff |
Community Involvement
Three AEDC Employees Take Special Olympics to Heart
“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
Special Olympics can be a life-changing experience -- not just for the athletes, but for the volunteers as well. Such is the case for three IIa employees at Arnold AFB (AEDC). For more than 20 years, Wilsie Ford, Mary Harvey, and Janice Willis have volunteered their time to help with the local Special Olympics competition in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
They do so because they believe in the mission of Special Olympics,
an organization that promotes participation and inclusion, and transforms
the lives of people with
intellectual
disabilities.
When
volunteers
like Ford, Harvey, and Willis come
together with the athletes of Special
Olympics, they see longstanding myths dispelled and are presented with
opportunities to embrace and celebrate people with differences.
According to Kent Turner, one of IIa's team leaders at AEDC, "IIa
could not have three better representatives to help
make a difference in the lives of these athletes and their families."
When you ask any of these ladies why they volunteer their time you will
get responses like “It rebuilds my spirit”, “It’s
a blessing to my soul”, and “I enjoy helping people and being
a servant.”
IIa applauds the efforts of these three employees, as well as the efforts of so many of our employees who provide valuable community service. IIa President Bonnie Carroll noted that such acts of volunteerism are "a wonderful gift" that positively impact so many lives.
School Supplies to Iraq
As a natural extension of IIa’s philanthropic
focus on literacy and life-long learning, IIa and its partners in Team
IIa-Oak Ridge reached out to school children in an Iraq. In
February, local employees from team partners IIa, NCI, and ARTI gathered
a broad array of school supplies for an elementary
school that was adopted by U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Supplies sent to the
students and teachers ranged from crayons, modeling clay, and construction
paper to notebooks, scissors, and glue.
IIa's Wallus in Lock Up....for Charity
The last thing any company wants to see
is its Human Resources Director hauled off in chains. But just this once,
it worked out fine. On May 5th, 
IIa's
HR department was short a Director while Martha Wallus was in the pokey...raising
money to benefit the
Muscular Dystrophy Association. While in lockup (at the Outback Steakhouse
drinking coffee and eating pastries), Martha raised $700 in bail money.
Martha said one of her "closest friends" had
her arrested for MDA's "I Went Behind Bars For
Good" fundraiser,
and she's still trying to find out which "friend" it was.
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