Company wrapping up 12 months of giving
Here’s a warm story for a cold December day. Employees of the Safex company in Westerville have an office whiteboard on which they record acts of kindness.
“Taught first-graders to read."
“Raked my neighbor's leaves."
“Let person go ahead of me at grocery."
The scribbled comments are part of a yearlong endeavor to take on 12 projects — one a month — aimed at helping the community. The outreach is how Safex, a health-and-safety consulting company that employs about 20 people, celebrated its 25th anniversary.
November was Pay It Forward month, hence the whiteboard record of good deeds spontaneously done. The December project is a toy drive.
In October, employees donated 25 coats to Cristo Rey Columbus High School, which holds an annual winter-clothing drive.
In March, they made 25 blankets for foster children.
“Every single person in the office was sitting on the floor making and cutting blankets,” said Safex President Dianne Grote Adams. “So that was pretty cool.”
The blankets went to My Very Own Blanket (mvob. org), which gives them to foster children so they’ll always have something to call their own, even when they change residences.
Jessica Rudolph, chief executive of My Very Own Blanket, said she was impressed by the Safex employees’ enthusiasm. She bestowed the title of “blanket angels" on them.
Adams, who founded Safex in 1992, asked a team of staff members in 2016 to brainstorm ways to mark the company’s 25th year. Because Safex already had a history of supporting area causes such as Habitat for Humanity, the team
recommended expanding involvement to one project a month.
Team leader Michele Blaney said the projects were loosely focused on the number 25: Safex sponsored 25 runners in the Westerville Bunny Hop 5K (to benefit city parks); sponsored 25 entries in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital rubber duck-race; and donated 652 pounds of food (25 squared) to the Westerville Area Resource Ministry.
“The fact that the staff came up with the ideas and committed to them was the most important piece to me,” Adams said.
Travis Spagnolo, a safety specialist at Safex, said helping a food pantry or making blankets also turned out to be a lesson in gratitude.
“It makes you think how lucky you are,” he said.
Adams, a niece of Donatos pizza founder Jim Grote, said taking several hours out of a busy week for charitable activities isn't always easy. In the