By Brittney Ausborn - Headquarters
Me (top row, third from left) with a few coworkers who contributed to the backpack drive.
As a kid, back-to-school season was always an exciting time. Although it signaled the end of summer freedom, it also meant reuniting with friends, getting a few new outfits and stocking up on school supplies. As the daughter of a teacher, I also got to help my mom decorate her classroom for the year. Now I’m an adult and summer vacation is just a distant memory, but that hasn’t stopped me from helping to make back-to-school season an exciting time for other kids.
For the past two years, Atlantic Southeast’s LIFT program has participated in a backpack drive for underprivileged school children coordinated by Atlanta-area charity For the Kid in All of Us. We are just one of a handful of Metro Atlanta companies that encourages employees to contribute fully-stocked backpacks to the cause. The drive typically lasts a few weeks and leads up to a community event held at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park.
The backpack drive was a pretty independent effort during our first year participating, with employees contributing their own fully-stocked backpacks. However, this year, a group of us decided to make it easier for more employees to get involved by pooling our resources. One of us would buy the paper and pens for a bag, another person would buy the notebooks and so on. We also took cash donations and bought supplies for our coworkers who couldn’t make it to the store. The result was a collective team effort that included donations from at least 75 people in our work area.
In total, Atlantic Southeast employees donated more than 70 fully-stocked backpacks to the drive, which is 20 more than we donated last year! We also landed in the No. 5 spot among Atlanta-area companies that held backpack drives….not bad considering we were up against some very large companies in the race!
By Arlene Bahar - Headquarters
I joined Atlantic Southeast’s LIFT (Lasting Impressions For Tomorrow) Board this year as Event Coordinator. The experience on the board is rewarding because of the true volunteer spirit that exists at Atlantic Southeast and that is shared among the board members. Last week, we were presented with the awesome opportunity to host a pancake breakfast to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge at Emory University in Decatur, Ga. The lodge is residential facility for cancer patients and their families to stay when being treated in city other than their home town.
Our pancake breakfast was held last week at our Atlanta hangar and general offices, as well as at our Atlanta airport crew lounge. Our day started at 5 a.m. when many of our aircraft, crews and mechanics were starting their day. I’m not sure if it was hunger, the smell of blueberry pancakes, or just the genuine desire to give, but there were steady lines of team members eager to hop on our flapjacks! Of course, we offered something for everyone: blueberry (for those like me with a sweet tooth), and for the heath conscious, whole wheat pancakes. Not to be outdone by our local fast-food competitors, we even provided toppings like strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate chips!
I was impressed by our team members’ generous giving spirit as we asked for a minimum donation of $1; however, many people gave more. The funds raised will go a long way to help LIFT as we put our culinary skills to use again for a dinner event for the Hope Lodge. It truly feels good to flip for LIFT and for others!
By Ken Hall – Flight Operations
When I came to Atlantic Southeast Airlines 15 years ago, I was anticipating a move into an exciting new career, surrounded by men and women with long aviation backgrounds. I chose Atlantic Southeast because it had one of the strongest, most secure track records in the industry. What I found when I got here was all of that and more.
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By Jennifer Tarcan, Flight Attendant
I try to give back when I can, whether it’s through a soup kitchen or a $1.00 donation, and one organization I have always admired is Locks of Love. So, when I had heard about our LIFT program organizing a Locks of Love day I was eager to participate for this great cause. At first I was nervous to cut off ten inches of hair, but then I thought that ten inches of hair isn’t so much if you have it to give. First off, hair grows back. Second, what I can give will greatly benefit a child suffering from hair loss by helping to restore a sense of self confidence.
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By Jenn Junger, Operational Performance
In 2008 Atlantic Southeast launched our Lasting Impressions For Tomorrow (LIFT) employee volunteer program. I’m part of the employee-based board that helps guide how LIFT gives back to our communities. Although we’ve partnered with various non-profit entities throughout our history, it wasn’t until LIFT that Atlantic Southeast had an organized program through which employees could give back, through volunteerism, to the communities where we work.
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