IMPACT’s Making an IMPACT Initiative Celebrates the First Half of 2015
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC: 24 August 2015 – In the first half of 2015, IMPACT’s employees have been hard at work contributing to the local Triangle community via our Making an IMPACT community service initiative. Whether by reading to children, shaving heads, watching basketball, or donating blood, money, and time, 2015 is off to a very generous start!
Read Across Durham
In March, the Durham County Library held its inaugural Read Across Durham (RAD) event, bringing community members into Durham Public schools to read to children in 3rd grade classrooms. Two IMPACT employees, Lena Randhawa and Kasturi Puranam, read Fantastic Mr. Fox at 2 local schools.
Lena also facilitated a new partnership between the Durham Public Library and the KART Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes childhood literacy. As a result of this new partnership, the KART Foundation became a sponsor of RAD and of another reading event sponsored by the Durham County Library.
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From Karlene Philips, a coordinator for the RAD event (left, with Lena):The Durham County Library could not have accomplished this feat without assistance from our community. We are so thankful for the many volunteers who took time to read to our children…I am also extremely thankful for the new partnerships that have developed from this initiative and look forward to working with Impact Pharmaceutical Services and other local groups as we continue to support our children and our schools through innovative and collaborative programming. |
BJ Witkin Goes Bald to Cure Childhood Cancers via St. Baldrick’s Foundation
Also in March, IMPACT employee, BJ Witkin, shaved his head to support the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. St. Baldrick’s raises money to support pediatric cancer research for the 175,000 children diagnosed with cancer every year.
This cause is near to BJ’s heart after losing a cousin to lymphoma at 16 years of age. This year, BJ raised $1386, surpassing his last year total of $1007, and was the 3rd highest fundraiser at the Morrisville event! We are so proud of BJ’s accomplishments.
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BJ (pictured with Marie Duke, his shaver) had this to say about our CEO, Mark Cierpial: I’d like to give a special thank you to Mark. Besides being my single largest donor each year, he’s also kind enough to let me get shaggy and look completely unprofessional. I really appreciate his support. |
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IMPACT’s 2nd Annual March Madness Prizes Go to 3 Worthy Charities
Making an IMPACT rounded out March by holding our 2nd annual March Madness charity bracket fundraiser, spearheaded by IMPACT employee, Jennifer Moen. This year’s March Madness charity event was a huge success! Thirty‑eight IMPACT employees, their families, and colleagues from our building entered 62 brackets for a chance to win the top 3 prizes for their charity of choice.
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This year’s winners (pictured left to right) were:
IMPACT is proud to support these charities, and we look forward to having even more folks join us next year! |
IMPACT’s 2nd Annual Red Cross Blood Drive
In May, IMPACT employee, Kathy Elks, organized IMPACT’s 2nd annual blood drive with the American Red Cross for the companies located in Research Commons in RTP. Making an IMPACT would like to congratulate Kathy on another successful blood drive!
The blood drive was supported by IMPACT employees and families, as well as other companies within RTP. At the end of the drive, the American Red Cross had 30 donors (with 3 first-time donors) and was able to collect 29 units of blood. IMPACT sponsored the event by treating donors to a free LocoPop after their donation.
IMPACT Walks to Cure Cystic Fibrosis
| Also in May, IMPACT employee, Erica Allen, rallied fellow employees, friends, and families to participate in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) Great Strides event in Apex, NC. Great Strides is the CFF’s largest fundraising event nation‑wide.The IMPACT team enjoyed a nice walk with family and friends, followed by refreshments under some much needed shade (Ashley Godfrey and Lori Davis are pictured to the right).
Together, the IMPACT team raised $2420 for the walk, supporting ongoing research for new treatments and a cure for cystic fibrosis. |
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As part of the Making an IMPACT initiative, IMPACT employees come together as a team for larger community projects several times a year. Projects are chosen based on charities that have strong connections to IMPACT employees and their families. In addition, IMPACT supports and promotes their employees’ efforts to give back to their community by providing them 4 hours of paid time off per month to pursue volunteer work.
Would you like to be a part of IMPACT’s community endeavors? Let us know! We’d love to hear from you, here.
We hope your 2015 has been happy and productive as well!
Media Contact:
Mark A. Cierpial, PhD, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (919) 899-9248
Fax: (919) 354-6090
mcierpial@impactpharma.com
www.impactpharma.com