RJ Young Company Mission Statement – Part 4
“To provide and utilize our resources as an investment in our community”

Hands & Hearts Committee:

The Hands & Hearts Committee was created in 2004 in order to raise awareness, recruit volunteers, and organize fundraisers for several community service projects throughout the year for the RJ Young Employees.

The current committee members are:

• Bridgett Bennett
• Holly King
• Lee Ann Forewright
• Paige Crunk
• Rachel Wooten
• Scott Jones
• Steve Huff
• Wesley Carter

Habitat for Humanity:

Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity International has built and rehabilitated more than 250,000 houses with families in need, becoming a true world leader in addressing the issues of poverty housing.

Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem -- decent housing for all. Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 250,000 houses, sheltering more than 1,000,000 people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide.

In the spring of 2009, RJ Young Company will begin building its 5th Habitat House in the Nashville community. The employees volunteer their Saturdays and Sundays for 6 weeks in order to build a home. Our branch offices in Mississippi built their 1st Habitat House in the spring of 2007, which was built in the Hattiesburg, MS community. They hope to participate in area builds again this upcoming spring.

Make A Wish Foundation:

Make A Wish Foundation Mission: We grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

RJ Young partnered with Make A Wish Foundation in 2008 to sponsor one wish. Employees held two fundraisers to grant the wish of 15 year old, Trenton Sandefur. His wish was to meet Derek Jeter with the New York Yankees. RJ Young employees had two opportunities to be apart of granting Trenton’s wish. Employees participated at the surprise wish announcement party during a Nashville Sounds game. A few weeks later employees attended an early morning surprise send off at the Nashville airport before Trenton and his family departed for New York.

A few months later, Trenton and his parents served as guest at our mid year meeting. Trenton’s father spoke of their experience meeting the New York Yankees and their experience with the Make A Wish foundation.

Gilda’s Club:

When it comes to cancer, those going through it are the experts. No one knows better than you how you are feeling and what you need. At Gilda's Club Nashville you can explore ways to live with cancer that suit you best.

Gilda's Club Nashville connects people who are asking some of these questions as they learn to live with cancer. Whether you have cancer yourself, or you're experiencing cancer with someone you love - Gilda's Club Nashville is here, free of charge, for all of you.

This year the RJ Young employees decided to get involved with Gilda’s Club for the very first time. So many people in the RJ Young family have been affected by cancer, whether it is themselves or a relative or close friend, so we wanted to work with an organization that supports these individuals.

In July 2008, the employees were presented with a “Wish List” from Gilda’s Club of items ranging from paper towels and coffee to kids movies and a Wii system. We set up boxes at the office for 2 weeks and watched as the employees stopped by to drop off their donations. Our ImageWorks team pooled their money together and purchased a Wii to donate! At the end of the 2 weeks, RJY had collected everything that was on that list and presented it to Gilda’s Club.

American Heart Association:

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." The association's impact goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010.

The RJ Young Company works with the American Heart Association in many ways throughout the year. We are corporate sponsors for the Heart Gala as well as the Go Red for Women Campaign. The employees hold fundraising events throughout the year to donate for the American Heart Walk, and this year a few employees put teams together to participate in the American Heart Walk. Also in 2008, the 6th Annual Pumpkin Run was held consisting of employees and members as a benefit for this organization.

American Red Cross:

Since its founding in 1881 by visionary leader Clara Barton, the American Red Cross has been the nation's premier emergency response organization. As part of a worldwide movement that offers neutral humanitarian care to the victims of war, the American Red Cross distinguishes itself by also aiding victims of devastating natural disasters. Over the years, the organization has expanded its services, always with the aim of preventing and relieving suffering.

Some four million people give blood—the gift of life—through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. Each year, the employees of RJ Young Company are given the opportunity to donate blood twice a year right here at the office. This past August (2008) over 40 employees at the Nashville office donated blood.

St. Luke’s:

St. Luke's provides over 30 programs to the residents of West Nashville. FRCs are assets-based in the services that they provide with a focus on community input. The services offered are holistic in their approach, bringing in numerous community agency partners to provide specialty services. The overall goal is to empower residents to improve their lives and their community by involving them in the process of determining the community's needs while eliminating the duplication of services.

Each year, the RJ Young Company Employees hold a cooking contest to raise funds for St. Luke’s Adopt a Family Program. Usually that contest is in the form of a chili or spaghetti cook-off. We use the money raised from this event to purchase Christmas gifts for families. Last year, we were able to adopt 5 families.

American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

The RJY Chattanooga branch not only participates in company wide events but they have taken it upon themselves to get involved in their local community. RJY Chattanooga hosts their own fundraising events to benefit their local chapter of the American Cancer Society. The events for 2008 included a crawish boil, a Wii bowling tournament, and soon to come a turkey fry.

To request to be added to our fundraising efforts for next year, please fill out the form below. It will be directed to the Hands & Hearts committee.

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