WISDOM AND INNOCENCE

The true essence of caring is well represented from the day we are born all the way through our later years of life. We all know many wonderful young, aspiring and innocent children, and similar numbers of bright, caring and wise elders. From the innocence of these children to the wisdom of these elders, FedEx Cares. From the greatest potential for growth to life experiences that guide others, FedEx Cares. In times of illness and healing, FedEx Cares. From age one to one-hundred, FedEx Cares.

To demonstrate our solidarity for WISDOM AND INNOCENCE, we in FedEx Ground Facilities and Material Handling Projects united as a department, making us stronger than our individual groups. We organized into six teams, with three teams collecting items to be donated to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the other three gathering items to be donated to Friendship Ridge nursing and rehabilitative care center in Beaver County, PA. Items collected for both organizations were identified as “in demand” by our points of contact at each United Way agency. For Children’s Hospital, we collected activity books, sticker books/stickers, coloring tools, blankets, games, and journals, along with sample size personal items for use by visiting parents during their child’s hospital stay. Friendship Ridge received stationary, picture frames, puzzle books, writing tools, slipper socks, lap blankets, and playing cards. Combined, we were able to collect nearly 1000 various “in demand” items, filling 29 tote bags for the children and 24 tote bags for the seniors, 53 bags in all. This shattered our initial goal of 30 bags, and would have been nearly impossible to achieve without a united effort between all groups in Facilities and Material Handling Projects. All bags were personally delivered to each organization by FedEx Ground team members on October 25, 2011. With the support of our F&MHP team, hospitalized and often times bed-ridden children and their families will now have access to basic personal necessities and comfort items during hospital stays, and seniors will be able to make their living accommodations at Friendship Ridge feel like a home away from home. As our elated contact at Friendship Ridge mentioned during our visit, with recent budget cuts, many residents would not have access to the items provided without generous support from donors such as FedEx. This makes a big difference in the lives of these seniors, some who don’t even have one visitor per year. This sums up just how much the FedEx team positively impacts the community through the FedEx Cares program.

Staying true to our theme of WISDOM AND INNOCENCE, our group decided that our team photo should represent the core of our mission, that FedEx Cares throughout the progression of life, from childhood to the golden years. For this reason, we chose to create a collage representative of our theme instead of submitting a single photo. Encircling the perimeter of our image are various photos of children and senior citizens, with our centerpiece in the collage showing the Facilities and Material Handling Projects team delivering the 53 FedEx Cares tote bags to Children’s Hospital and Friendship Ridge. Our theme, WISDOM AND INNOCENCE, is emblazoned across the collage. Our team photo and our work on the WISDOM AND INNOCENCE campaign truly shows that FedEx Cares, and from age one to one-hundred, we are all united.