In June, Gov. Bev Perdue called on state employees to join the national “United We Serve” campaign to encourage people to be more active helping their communities this summer.
Employees in one of our agencies – the state Division of Water Quality – answered that call in a very creative manner.
Dana Satterwhite, a division employee, found a public charity based in Youngsville called All-N’ Together Services that provides services to people in need and noticed that the charity was holding a school supplies drive for children in orphanages, foster homes or low-income families.
Satterwhite called on her colleagues in the agency’s different sections and units to see which program in the division could gather the most school supplies. The winning program would earn a little recognition and a pizza lunch.
Between July 1-31, seven teams competed by collecting pencils, notebook paper, colored markers, scissors, calculators, erasers and pretty much anything else that a child might need in school.
In the end, the Construction Grants and Loans Section surpassed others by a long shot, by soliciting donations from Target and Costco, holding raffles and using the proceeds to buy more supplies. They persuaded folks in other divisions to donate, and even brought the Carolina Hurricanes on board as contributors. All together, the section, which has the fewest number of employees of any section in Water Quality, donated 8,275 items.
I’m proud of everyone in the Division of Water Quality for their efforts. When All-N’Together Services came to gather the donations at our Raleigh offices, they were shocked. They thought they would be able to put all the donations in one car, but they were wrong. It took a packed SUV and a truck.
