Check Out How IEA Celebrated National Canned Food Month!
National Canned food month may have started with the purpose to teach about the benefits of canned food, but over the years it has become a way for people to focus on donating food for those in need.
After the holidays, many food banks have a need to replenish their stock. This February, IEA challenged our employees to help with this need.
The four cities that house the IEA offices are in the top 15 largest cities in America.
- #4 Houston
- #9 Dallas
- #11 Austin
- #13 Fort Worth
This gives IEA the incredible opportunity to make a big impact.
Lena Lee, a Marketing Assistant in the Austin office, recognized the importance of this canned food drive saying, “There are many individuals who go through food insecurity especially as prices are rising in Austin/everywhere with the inflation of food costs and basic household necessities. So, places like food banks/food pantries help a lot with allowing lower-income individuals to meet their basic needs.”
Many of these cities also have a homeless population who benefit from these food banks. Houston Senior CADD Technician, Dennis Escalante, can see this need in his home city. “The city needs to help the homeless population by any means possible.”
The Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth offices all accepted the challenge to help through donating. Houston combined this goal with the Super Bowl for a fun competition. Employees were given “Super Bowl Squares” for their donated cans and prizes were awarded during the big game. And while this was a fun bonus, Dennis was motivated by wanting “to help fill the Houston Food Bank [knowing] IEA’s donations will help people having hard times.” Our donations throughout the month showed that many IEA employees had similar motives.
Collectively the Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston offices donated over 205 pounds of canned food for the North Texas Food Bank and the Houston Food Bank!
IEA’s Austin office took a different approach to make a difference. Rather than collecting canned goods, Lena with fellow employees spent time serving at Central Texas Food Bank. Lena was excited to participate saying, “I have experience with volunteering in food banks and food pantries previously and always thought it was a great cause! I also know about Central Texas Food Bank and the great work they do for the Austin, community.” During their day volunteering the team helped package over 5,400 pounds of food making 4,500 meals!
This volunteer opportunity comes from the heart of IEA’s Positive Partnership; a positive environment to learn, grow, and be successful in your professional and personal life. This workplace culture promotes inclusion on every level and into our communities. Lena speaks highly of this campaign saying, “IEA culture wants to promote positive partnerships and relationships with all those it works with. This culture is promoted not only amongst our employees, but also with our clients and the community we serve. As a company, we have been making an intentional effort to give back to our communities and make an impact above and beyond the work we do by building the highways and roads in Texas.”
Employees are going to have more opportunities like this throughout the year. We’re looking forward to the impact it will have on our local communities.
Dennis is excited to see how it can affect our industry as well, “IEA can set an example to other firms to find other means of helping and giving back.”
