Anderson Packaging donates $92,000 to local agencies

From press release

Anderson Packaging’s wish for this holiday season is that everyone in the community can enjoy a safe place to call home. With the generous help of the Fourth Annual Tracy Barr Project ELFF charitable giving campaign, wishes can come true.

The program, “Project ELFF: Enriching the Lives of the Less Fortunate,” is a holiday-themed donation effort for company workers. The namesake of the campaign is Tracy Barr, a former vice president of Project Management and Planning at Anderson Packaging, who courageously fought and finally succumbed to cancer earlier this year.

The Tracy Barr Project ELLF program is organized and administered by individual Anderson Packaging associates. Over a three-week period in December, workers submitted donations to nominate teams in a companywide competition. Teams raising the most money greeted workers at the plant entrances Dec. 21 in holiday-themed costumes at each of the company’s three shifts and multiple facilities throughout Rockford, including sites on Assembly Drive, 18th Avenue, and New Milford School Road.

“The results of this campaign were overwhelming, and it is a real tribute to Tracy Barr,” said Tim Rogowski, vice president of information technology and ELLF co-chairman. “Given the state of the economy, we thought we would be hard-pressed to top last year’s amazing effort. Our associates’ generosity was amazing—raising over $46,000 this year, much higher than our targeted goal. Every year they find a way to give more to the neediest in the Rockford area, and we have a lot of fun doing it.”

Anderson Packaging annually matches the employee contributions for the Tracy Barr Project ELLF campaign, bringing the total funds generated to more than $92,000 for 2010. In the four-year history of the effort, Anderson has been able to donate well more than $200,000 to local Rockford non-profits.

For 2010, individual $15,000 donations were made to the Rock River Valley Food Pantry, Rockford Rescue Mission, Carpenter’s Place, Goldie B. Floberg Center, Remedies (formerly known as PHASE/WAVE) and Rockford MELD. A donation will also be made to the Court Street Methodist Church Thanksgiving dinner effort.

“On behalf of Remedies, Rock River Valley Food Pantry, Rockford Rescue Mission, Carpenter’s Place, Goldie B. Floberg Center) and Rockford MELD, staff and especially the people they serve, we want to thank Anderson Packaging for their generous contribution to our organizations,” said Karen Gill, vice president of operations/fund development for Remedies. “Because of your involvement, we will be able to continue and hopefully expand the services we all provide. We want to take this opportunity to show our appreciation and gratitude to you for the generous support of our agencies. Without the thoughtful consideration and donations from caring people like you, we would not be able to continue providing these needed services to the community.”

From the Jan. 5-11, 2011 issue