One of the Simpson Strong-Tie core values is to give back to the communities where our employees work and live. This value, established by our company founder, Barclay Simpson, is reflected in the actions of not only our company but also of our employees.

One of our biggest days of giving back is November’s Simpson Strong-Tie Do What You Can Day, an annual event celebrated throughout our company at our locations around the world. Here are some of the ways we did what we could.

 STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

Our Stockton branch partnered with the Gospel Center Rescue Mission helping to support the homeless and addicted in the San Joaquin County community. About 100 employees filled 200 backpacks with a warm shirt and hat, granola bars, a water bottle and toiletry items.

RIVERSIDE AND PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA

Kids in the foster care system were well represented in both Northern and Southern California. Our Riverside and Pleasanton branches partnered with Together We Rise, an organization committed to transforming the ways kids experience foster care.

In Riverside, team members assembled 63 bikes in under two hours. Those bikes, along with helmets, were donated to the Greenhouse Family Services which assists children who’ve been removed from their families due to abuse or neglect.

In addition to bikes, Together We Rise provides foster kids with durable “sweet cases” filled with hygiene kits, fun activities, a teddy bear, and a warm blanket — in lieu of the trash bags children entering foster care are often given for holding their belongings. In Pleasanton, employees assembled and decorated 200 sweet cases.

Also, Pleasanton continued support to Girls Inc. of Alameda, an organization dear to the heart of Barc Simpson, by raising more than $1,000 through a silent employee auction.

MCKINNEY, TEXAS

 The McKinney branch teamed up with Streetside Showers, an organization that provides mobile hot showers and hygiene care to those most in need. The Simpson Strong-Tie team packed 555 small kits and 967 big kits, rolled 212 pairs of socks and packaged 2,566 pairs of underwear. In total, 206 volunteers packaged 20,613 items.

COLUMBUS, OHIO

 Ronald McDonald House Charities was the partner for our team members in Columbus. Employees stuffed 200 animals and packed them with handmade t-shirts and greeting cards. Ronald McDonald House provides essential services to families whose children are facing medical challenges.

CHANDLER, ARIZONA

 Employees packed meals for Feed My Starving Children. These meals are distributed daily in schools, orphanages, clinics and feeding programs around the world to deliver hope and break the cycle of poverty.

WEST CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

 West Chicago employees volunteered at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva, Illinois. Team members helped pack 17,161 holiday meals for people in need in the surrounding counties.

JESSUP, MARYLAND

Jessup employees collected donations from team members to purchase 1,663 pounds of canned goods for the Howard County Food Bank and a local church.

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS

Our Kansas City branch adopted a low-income school, John Fiske Elementary, for Do What You Can Day. The team worked together to raise money and purchase items the school would need during the school year.

BOULDER, COLORADO

Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence was the partner for our Boulder branch. SPAN provides shelter and advocacy for victims of interpersonal and domestic violence. Boulder organized a goods drive collecting gift cards, food and cooking items, toiletries and more for the holiday season. The drive resulted in more than 10 massive storage bins filled with items for the shelter.

KENT, WASHINGTON

 This was Kent’s third year partnering with Northwest Harvest. The organization distributes meals through a network of 375 food banks, meal programs and high-need schools. The Kent team repackaged 50-pound bags of oats into smaller, four-serving portions for shipping to local area food banks.

LAFYETTE, INDIANA, AND STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA

Simpson Strong-Tie Technology celebrated Do What You Can Day in two locations this year. Employees in the State College, PA, office partnered with Meals on Wheels to prepare home-delivered meals for the surrounding area. These meals help enable people to age independently or heal in the comfort of their homes, contributing to their ability to maintain a positive mental outlook, sustain social connections and keep their families intact.

Our Lafayette, IN, office worked with Food Finders Food Bank to package pasta for holiday meals for people in need and help address food insecurity in North Central Indiana.

ENFIELD, CONNECTICUT

The Enfield branch collected nonperishable items for the Enfield Loaves and Fishes Food Shelf. The program supports both Enfield and surrounding towns. This year, the focus was to collect items for after-school programs.

HAWAII

Our brand new Hawaii branch helped distribute food to the elderly at the Kamalu Elderly Housing facility in Waipahu, in partnership with the Hawaii Food Bank and Waipahu United Church of Christ. The team helped lift heavy boxes of produce, cheese, pastries and other food into shopping carts.

EAGAN, MINNESOTA

The Eagan team donated 786 pounds of food to The Open Door Pantry, a local food shelf that serves Dakota County with 6,000 meals per month. The donation created 675 of those meals for the month of November.

GALLATIN, TENNESSEE

Gallatin employees participated in Do What You Can Day by partnering with Gallatin Cares. The organization provides a centralized location where people in need can go for assistance. The team organized a food drive, packed meals and helped in the clothing pantry.

TAMWORTH, UK

On a thankfully dry November morning, a team of volunteers arrived at Dun-Roamin’, a dog re-homing shelter, to help revamp its facilities. The team assembled roofing, built new storage facilities, upgraded the kennels and even gave the walls a lick of paint. Dun-Roamin’ founder Ian Webb praised the team’s efforts: “We are massively grateful for the help; it means a great deal to us, and I know our guests are going to appreciate it, too.”

MAPLE RIDGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Maple Ridge employees donated 160 pounds of food and $785 to the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Friends in Need Food Bank. The contribution will go to help many in-need people, families and children in the local community.

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO

In Brampton, the branch supported one of their own when they decided to help an employee’s sister’s family whose 15-year old daughter is fighting her third round of cancer. They put their focus and heart into helping provide the family with support and relief. You can learn more about Alexa’s journey at the family’s GoFundMe page.