Every day, members of the security industry work to provide secure homes, businesses and facilities for their customers. This foundation the industry is built on makes the holidays a special time for many security companies who have and continue to serve not only their customers, but also communities and individuals in need — to keep them safer and spread some holiday cheer.

 

The number of charitable causes sponsored by security companies is colossal. Here are some of the programs receiving their help this holiday season:

 

For the past decade, The Protection Bureau, SDM’s 2010 Dealer of the Year, has contributed to the Presbyterian Children’s Village, an organization that provides child welfare, prevention, behavioral health, and residential services for at-risk children in the greater Philadelphia region. Every year, the company sets up an “angel tree” in its offices and employees contribute gifts for the Village children to receive on Christmas Day. Matthew Ladd, president and chief operating officer of The Protection Bureau shared with SDM that his mother Mary Ladd, who co-founded the company alongside Keith Ladd, is the driving force behind this program. The family tradition continues with Matthew Ladd’s young children, who every year choose and donate one of their own gifts to the Presbyterian Children’s Village.

 

The company’s employees also support a cause led by senior vice president Karen Baker: Mosaic South Africa. “Karen has always had a special place in her heart for South Africa and sits on board for MSA,” said Matthew Ladd. “This is an organization that is dealing with AIDS and helping orphans in South Africa.” MSA builds homes and businesses through the help of volunteers with the goal of creating self-sustainable models that encourage families to offer foster care for orphans. The Protection Bureau’s donations for Mosaic were originally intended to buy Christmas gifts until it was found that the children would not be attending school for the entire month of December, where they received three daily meals. As a result, the company used the cash donations to buy bags of food for the month.

As part of the Stanley Gives Back community service program, thirty-two branches from Stanley Convergent Security Solutions (Stanley CSS), plus the Field Headquarters in Naperville, Ill., participated in more than 54 local charity/giving programs this holiday season, including providing and serving Thanksgiving dinners at homeless shelters, fundraising for children’s Christmas presents, participating in Toy’s for Tot’s donations, supporting Adopt-a-Family program, supporting battered women’s shelters, organizing coat drives and serving meals at senior citizen centers.

 

“The “Stanley Gives Back” program is in full force at Stanley CSS throughout the year, especially during the holidays. Whether it’s giving to the

United Way

or supporting a local charity in need — it’s all important, because we are giving back to the communities in which we serve,” said Tony Byerly, president of Stanley Convergent Security Solutions North America and United Kingdom Direct, in a statement to SDM. “It is wonderful to see the outpouring of generosity from our associates during the holidays whether it’s by working in a nursing home or collecting Christmas toys for needy children or sending holiday care packages to troops overseas — it’s a truly rewarding experience for our company.”

 

Stanley CSS also contributed approximately $60,000 to Stanley Security Solutions’

United Way

campaign. Including donations from the Mechanical Access and Healthcare Solutions sectors, Stanley SS exceeded its goal of $200,000 and raised $272,500, counting a $.50 matching donation from Stanley Black & Decker for every $1.00 employees donated. 

 

Team Iverify, the cycling team sponsored by Iverify.US Inc, the Charlotte, N.C.-based video monitoring company, delivered a $31,250.00 donation to the Pan Mass Challenge. The donation will support cancer research at the Dana Faber Cancer Center and help support the costs of families with children being treated for cancer. In its fourth year, Team Iverify and its riders, Beckie and John Beaupre, Kristan and Will Ash, Eric and Kim Kohler and Iverify CEO Mike May and his wife Tricia, trained for several months in anticipation of the ride.

 

The Pan Mass Challenge consists of more than 5000 bicycle riders cycle 192 miles in two days starting in the Western Massachusetts town of Sturbridge and ending on the tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown. In 2010, the PMC riders raised and donated $33 million to the Dana Faber Cancer Institute.

 

May said, “We are very proud to be able to join thousands of other riders and great organizations like the Jimmy Fund and the Boston Red Sox Foundation in support of the research funding for the defeat this terrible disease. Billy Starr and the PMC produce one of the most inspiring and successful events in the country, delivering 100% of the money they raise to this charity.”  May continued, “Nothing touches us more and inspires us to make that long ride than the smile on the face of our 17 year old Pedal Partner, Jennat Mustafa, a survivor of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma.”

 

SDM’s editors and their families continued their own charitable traditions this year, donating personal items, giving monetary contributions and volunteering time to St. Leo Residence, part of St. Leo Campus for Veterans in Chicago which aims to keep the estimated 18,000 homeless veterans in the Chicago metropolitan area safe and off the streets (www.stleoveterans.com); the Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree program, a gift-giving adoption program for children and seniors in need nationwide (angel.jcpenney.com); and the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, which funds pediatric cancer research and provides support to children and families who are touched by it (www.bearnecessities.org).

 

Did your company sponsor any charitable causes for the holidays? If so, tell us about it. Contact associate editor, Sabrina Gasulla at gasullas@bnpmedia.com or at (630)694-4385.