August 11, 2018
Constant Commitment to Community
by Cordellia Norcross, PACCAR Corporate Diversity Committee Chair
Social responsibility and community involvement are not just simple bywords at PACCAR and PacLease. This fact is evident in the community events, education and partnerships with charitable organizations. PACCAR has made a worldwide impact in giving back to the communities they are a part of. PacLease is no different and has left its own mark.
For over three decades, PacLease has participated in and, in many cases, led the way to improve philanthropy throughout PACCAR Inc. This has been accomplished through a powerful combination of support, comradery and a passionate commitment to improving the lives of others. PacLease is one of the smaller divisions of PACCAR, but every year the generosity in donations and time from its employees makes it seem so much bigger. When a cause calls, our PacLease family answers.
PacLease partners with United Way of King County to participate in a fun and inspiring week of fundraising to build a community where students graduate, families are financially stable and people have homes. Each employee has the option to take a paid day off from work to volunteer in United Way’s Day of Caring. In addition, several PacLease employees are Emerging Leaders and many of them have been on the United Way Emerging Leader’s Committee. For those that may not be familiar with this, the United Way Emerging Leaders are a group of young professionals who have a passion for helping their community. The Emerging Leader’s Committee is a group of 16 individuals from various companies in the King County, WA area who discuss the problems facing our community, how to fix them and then take action.
In March of this year, a young leader within PacLease, along with PACCAR Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ron Armstrong and the United Way of King County CEO hosted an event at their Kenworth Plant in Renton, Washington for over 100 individuals to end homelessness in the King County area. The event was a precursor to the Community Resource Exchange, which is an event that unites caring people, business and nonprofits who want to see homelessness solved for every person who spends sleepless nights outside alone. This was such an important event, as PACCAR’s first hosted event to support the United Way Emerging Leaders. With two CEOs present along with several members of senior management, it goes to show how much the company cares. For such a small group of mostly young professionals, they were able to raise a substantial amount of money to help people obtain food handler permits, clothes and a fresh start.
PacLease also participates in fundraising every year to help end Type 1 diabetes through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Washington State. Last year, PacLease led the charge for all of the fundraising through PACCAR and raised a record amount of donations. PacLease also encourages employees to ‘Beat the Bridge’ every year by walking in a 1k, 3k or 8k to support those with Type 1 diabetes.
Community isn’t just a word to PacLease, it’s an absolute need and a feeling each employee has. Every year throughout the country, PACCAR employees donate their time to various amounts of causes, whether it’s selling and donating books for Page Ahead to end childhood illiteracy, or educating children on our trucks and the environment in the annual Touch-A-Truck event in Ohio.
This year PacLease also volunteered for the Special Olympics, which were held in Seattle in early July. Employees were given the opportunity to take a paid day off to volunteer at this very important event.
PacLease understands that there is a need in our communities around the world and they support their employees who want to help aid that need. Change comes from the top down and as a company, we are very lucky to have several Executive Leaders who are willing to not only donate, but also get their hands dirty and help clean up a park or pack a lunch for those less fortunate.
Find out more about the organizations discussed in this article by clicking the links below.
- United Way of King County:
- Day of Caring: https://www.uwkc.org/day-of-caring/
- Emerging Leaders: https://www.uwkc.org/emerging-leaders/
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: http://www.jdrf.org/
- Special Olympics: https://www.specialolympics.org/