With the holiday weekend and Easter Sunday upon us, spirits are high at Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI). Not only has the arrival of spring ushered in beautiful weather and colorful displays of trees regaining leaves and wildflowers in bloom, but this time of year also inspires the employee owners of CPI to give back to our local communities.
That includes our most recent community outreach project, the 2012 edition of our longstanding “Hop for ESOP” Easter Basket donation and fundraiser to benefit children in need at the Starry Emergency Shelter in Round Rock, TX – just a few minutes south of our CPI Georgetown, TX facility.
This year’s fundraiser included the donation of 75 Easter baskets (see image below), stuffed full of tasty treats, toys and other assorted items sure to bring smiles and cheer to those who need it most.
Equally important, the philosophy of 100 percent employee ownership that CPI is founded upon is also worth recognizing for the positive internal influence it has on the employee owners at all of CPI’s U.S. and international facilities.
One such recent ESOP activity at our New Bern, NC facility involved the just-completed NCAA Basketball tournament, with a “March Madness” themed free-throw shooting contest for 16 lucky participants.
After brackets for the matchups were created, employee owners from all different departments across the office and production floor took part in head-to-head shooting matchups, with the winners advancing all the way to the final four and eventual championship. Thanks to the sheet metal department, special honorary medals were created and awarded to all participants, including employee owner Julius Johnson, who was crowned champion of this year's event. Here's Julius in action during the tournament.
With great turnout from everyone in the office and production floor, the New Bern event drew rave reviews for the positive team atmosphere it created, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see this on the calendar next year.
Of course, CPI is proud to extend our goodwill and community outreach year-round. In addition to the two events above, CPI’s California-based facilities in Chatsworth and Westlake Village are also active in ESOP activities, and as our international offices continue to expand and grow, we look forward to planning exciting activities abroad as well.
From all of us here at CPI, we hope you enjoy this Easter weekend! Jeff Cihocki, Global eContent Specialist