When communities come together, the greatest possible impact can be achieved.
At Kids’ Food Basket, we believe that everyone can make a difference, especially when everyone is united.
For almost a decade, Service Express, a global data center solutions provider, has partnered with Kids’ Food Basket to work to break down the barriers to food equity in West Michigan.
As an organization, Service Express heavily emphasizes the need to give back to the community, simply because It’s the right thing to do.
“We believe in continual improvement and in making things better, and that belief extends to the many communities where our teams live and work. It starts by ensuring kids within the communities have access to healthy, nutritious meals, “said Josh Leatherman, Chief Marketing Officer of Service Express. “From there, our hope is that they can participate in schooling and grow up to have many of the same opportunities that many in our organization have had. That is what is important to us.”
Service Express holds a company-wide core value of “cultivating a culture of growth that empowers our people to achieve their personal and professional goals.”
This core value is the foundation of encouraging volunteerism within the company. Each employee at Service Express is allowed two days of paid leave every year so they can devote time to volunteering at local nonprofits.
For years, many employees were dedicating their volunteer days to Kids’ Food Basket, which ultimately inspired the company as a whole to begin supporting the same mission.
“If it is important to our employees, it is important to us,” Leatherman said. “Because our people have such a strong belief in the mission of Kids’ Food Basket, we as an organization have developed one as well.”
Since 2013, Service Express has hosted one of the largest annual independent fundraisers for Kids’ Food Basket with the Driving Out Hunger Golf Classic.
The event started with the goal of raising enough money to feed one school with Sack Suppers for one year but has exceeded the goal year after year.
This year’s event will mark the ninth consecutive year of the golf classic, where Service Express will celebrate raising over $300,000 for Kids’ Food Basket in the history of the event.
In addition, they exceed their goal of raising $75,000 at this year’s event alone with over 200 people involved through participation, sponsorships and volunteerism.
The Driving Out Hunger Event Golf Classic will take place on June 7, 2022. Tickets are still available. For more information on how to register, please visit: drivingouthungergolfclassic.com.
