As the holiday season just passed, it was heartwarming to see many security dealers and industry organizations involved in gift-giving and other charitable causes. Mission500 spearheaded a holiday gift giving campaign, and of course there were the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots™, the Salvation Army™, and countless other, equally worthy causes.

Some noteworthy examples of holiday gift-giving: Charlotte, N.C.-based CPI Security Systems, the 2013 Central Station of the Year, came together with its employees in the spirit of the holidays and collected Toys for Tots during a holiday giving campaign. In the company’s Raleigh office alone, more than 50 toys were collected and donated. “We are very happy to partner with the organization year after year,” CPI stated.

Tony Varco of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Convergint Technologies, serves on the board for Center for Companies That Care (CTC). CTC’s core mission is to improve the well-being of individuals, families and communities. On December 3, as part of the organization’s “GivingTuesday” campaign designed to create a national day of giving at the start of the holiday season, Tony set and met a personal goal of raising $10,000 in support. (In 2012, GivingTuesday benefited over 2,500 organizations from all 50 states and processed over $10 million dollars in charitable donations.)

Atlanta-based Ackerman Security Systems was a sponsor of the “12 Hours of Hope” radiothon, which took place on December 12, 2013, raising $146,822. The event funds were to be contributed towards the purchase of a wireless X-Ray machine to be used in the emergency room at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Ackerman has long been a supporter of Children’s Healthcare and we were proud to be a sponsor of this great event,” said Jim Callahan, president of Ackerman Security Systems.

Preceding the holiday season, at ASIS 2013 in Chicago, commendably, Stanley Security™ decided to forego typical tradeshow giveaways and instead make a contribution for each badge scanned at its booth, and matched contributions made by attendees, as part of its ongoing initiative to support and build awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project. 

Also last fall was the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, which was devastating to the tri-state metropolitan area from which I’m writing. While most of us were only too glad to put it behind us, many of the hardest hit are still suffering, and New Jersey alarm dealer Greg Nixon, of GuardMe Security, founded Helping Hands of NJ to offer aid (http://hhofnj.org). Now expanding nationwide, his foundation, contributors and volunteers have rebuilt more than 70 homes destroyed by both Hurricane Sandy, as well as tornados that ravaged the Midwest. In a CBS® TV spot entitled “Heroes of Hurricane Sandy,” Nixon and his charity were featured on the Queen Latifah Show™ last October, where Jersey-born Latifah and Nixon worked side-by-side rebuilding a storm-devastated school playground.

Earlier last year, Ackerman Security Systems’ creative sports-themed charity, now in its third year, was in full swing. Called the “Caught Stealing” campaign (pun intended), Ackerman donates $100 for each thwarted attempt to steal a base against the Atlanta Braves. Promoted in conjunction with fundraising efforts of “680 The Fan Radio” and it’s “Strike Out” program, last year the Ackerman campaign raised more than $3,000 to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

As an industry, we hold creating a safe home and safe haven near and dear to our hearts; many of us have built our businesses on this. But sadly, a rising trend in U.S. domestic violence threatens to shatter that peace of mind and undermine the security everyone deserves. State and local legislators in many areas nationwide have tried to create social and technological solutions to this problem, creating more domestic violence awareness organizations, shelters and social support systems — even declaring October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Napco Napco Security Systems took part by sponsoring a Social Work Fundraiser at a local university, LIU, benefitting the Nassau County Medical Center, a support of the Executive Task Force on Family Violence.

 Bravo to all who are making the world a brighter place.