Delta Gypsum Gives Back

June 14, 2013

Sometime back in February, my father and Delta Gypsum Founder, Phil Ritchie, approached me and said, "David, on May 17th you're going to put on a Fundraiser BBQ Cookout for Passage Home (a 22-year nonprofit partner)." I asked how we should do it, and he asked me which golf course he should tee off on tomorrow.

At that point, I knew it was up to me. My first thought was, "Well, I've never done anything like this before...and the ol' man said we were going to do it....so okay....let's do it!" With the support of customers, employees, vendors, and the community....we did it. And boy did we ever.

We raised thousands of dollars for the Passage Home Non-Profit. Passage Home is a local organization based in downtown Raleigh, whose mission is to break the cycle of poverty through creation of jobs, provide on-the-job training, build affordable housing, and assist families and neighborhoods become more economically stable and viable. Passage Home works to leverage financial resources along with volunteers and in-kind services to provide a "hand up and not a hand out" to those in need.

In 90 minutes, we raised approximately $15,000, and attracted more than 100 people to our cookout! Folks showed up in droves. We even had suppliers drive 6-plus hours from out-of-state to attend the event. I was blown away by the energy and support from our employees, customers and local businesses that showed up. It was a really big outpouring of support from the community for a good cause.  

The money raised will go towards a matching grant, which matches all funds raised, essentially doubling the $15,000. You can't put a price on that kind of reinvestment into the community. 

As the last locally owned drywall supply yard in our market, we take great pride in branding ourselves as an independent. What better way to back up our talk, then by reinvesting in our own community. If we can work hard enough to earn our customers' dollars through the course of business, then they can trust that not only does it go towards their neighbors' paychecks, but it also goes towards worthwhile community causes like Passage Home.

I would just like to close by reminding our independent partners that it is a corporation's responsibility to give back to the community that supports them - no matter how big or small - you can make a difference. As Jeanne Teadrow, CEO of Passage Home would say, "Profits are good. Profits reinvested into the community are even better." 

We look forward to continuing our support of Passage Home in the years to come.  

 

David Ritchie
Vice President
Delta Gypsum