Breast Cancer Foundation gets $50K

Company doubles amount raised last year for charity

Allied Wire & Cable raises $50,000 for breast cancer awareness, firm doubles amount from last year.

“We were already planning to do something with breast cancer awareness, so we thought ‘why not tie the color to the charity.’” – Allied Wire & Cable CEO Tim Flynn

Allied Wire & Cable recently made a $50,000 donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. More than 100 Allied employees joined representatives from the Foundation and state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist., at the company’s headquarters March 2 to make the presentation.

Of the total donation, $42,000 came from a one-week December fundraising effort — Charity Week — in which a portion of Allied Wire & Cable customer purchases were designated to go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

That amount was more than double the company’s fundraising efforts from last year.

Another $5,000 of the total was the company’s pledged donation to the Foundation, while an additional $3,000 was donated by Dan Flynn, Allied Wire & Cable co-founder and co-owner.

Allied Wire & Cable’s breast cancer awareness campaign actually started with a decision about equipment, according to CEO Tim Flynn.

“It started with fact that we found out other companies use colored reels — blue reels or green. We had never picked a color and had been using black,” Flynn said, adding that when they started to look at what color might be available — they saw that pink was available.

“We were already planning to do something with breast cancer awareness, so we thought ‘why not tie the color to the charity,’” he said. “Once we decided to do that, it was a natural fit that we chose breast cancer as our holiday fundraising effort.”

A team of Allied Wire & Cable employees got together to brainstorm a nickname for the now pink reel — coming up with the name “Betty.” The result — one of the company’s most commonly used reel size (12 by 9 by 5 by 1.5-inch) is now pink.

In October the reels were launched, employees began wearing pink T-shirts that carried the phrase: “Reel men wear pink;” and began giving them to customers.

“We put the campaign into motion. It was revealing how many customers had stories — how many had been touched by breast cancer and thanked

us for doing this,” Flynn added.

The fundraising effort was conducted Dec. 11 through Dec. 15, with a portion of proceeds going to the Foundation. The T-shirts and pink reels focused attention on the effort, according to Flynn.

As the reels made their way to customers, “we heard so many emotional stories coming from our customers,” he added.

“National Breast Cancer Foundation is so grateful for Allied Wire & Cable’s generous support of our mission of Helping Women Now,” said Danae Johnson, National Breast Cancer Foundation senior director of development. “We thank CEO, Tim Flynn, and the entire team at Allied Wire & Cable for rallying together to promote their pink ‘Betty’ reel campaign which enabled them to raise a total of $47,000, doubling what they raised last year. Their impact will help us provide mammograms, patient navigation and support services to women in need across the country.”

Allied Wire & Cable is a 30-year-old family-owned business. The company supports a variety of charitable organizations throughout the year, although December’s Charity Week is the company’s biggest fundraising effort.

“We have always given and volunteered where we could,” Flynn said. “Our parents always said ‘help where you can — with money, time, prayers.’ I am fortunate enough to be able to give back — it’s a natural reflex,”

Flynn added that Allied employees get behind the efforts. “Everyone does enjoy being associated with an organization that cares. People get excited about helping,”

Flynn added.

While still in the early stages, Flynn said the company plans to establish a foundation — Allied Wire Cares — to get more people involved. Flynn said he and his brother Dan have already put money into the initiative.

“We have a committee at Allied looking at how can we help, how can we use this money,” he said.

Meanwhile, Flynn said Allied Wire & Cable will continue to give to breast cancer awareness.

The pink reels have become a permanent fixture at the company.

Allied Wire & Cable is a specialty manufacturer and distributor of electrical wire and cable, tubing and accessories. For more information visit http://www.awcwire.com/

For more information about the National Breast Cancer Foundation visit www.nbcf.org

Email business story ideas to business editor/ writer drovins@21stcenturymedia.com

SUBMITTED PHOTO Allied Wire & Cable recently donated $50,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Most of the money was raised during a week-long fundraiser. Shown here left to right with the company’s pink reels are: Allied’s Dan Flynn; state Sen. Bob Mensch;...

SUBMITTED PHOTO One of Allied Wire & Cable’s pink reels. The company adopted the pink reel as a way to make its product stand out, and to raise awareness about breast cancer. The company recently donated $50,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

SUBMITTED PHOTO The back of the Allied Wire & Cable ‘Allied Goes Pink’ T-shirt. The company recently made a donation of $50,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation —most of the money raised during a week-long fundraising effort.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Allied Wire & Cable recently donated $50,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Most of the money was raised during a week-long fundraiser. Shown here are Allied Wire & Cable employees with representatives from the National Breast Cancer...