Winter 2014 Newsletter - Red River Charitable Foundation

Newsletter
A Year of Giving Back
Winter 2014-15
President’s Letter
Happy New Year and Welcome to the Red River Technology Foundation (RRTF) Winter Newsletter!
This is our 2nd Edition and a lot has happened since our July issue.
In 2015 we will be celebrating Red River’s 20th Anniversary. Over the last 20 years, our mantra of long term,
well managed, sustainable growth has allowed us to expand our operations and remain profitable even
when faced with challenging economic times. As a result of our corporate success, we have been able to
substantially grow our philanthropic impact. When we established the Red River Technology Foundation in
2008 we did so with the expectation that, like our company, it would constantly grow and evolve.
2014 was a fantastic year for RRTF. In addition to expanding the number of scholarships we provided we also
made a much larger impact with our Veterans. In October, we introduced a new partnership with Operation
Hat Trick and we brought all of our 130 employees to the White River Junction, VT Veterans Administration
for a Day of Service. We installed fitness equipment on a recreation trail, planted and mulched flower beds,
and served a hot lunch and beverages to Veterans that participated in a Stand Down on the campus. The
VA hospital is a critical resource for Veterans in NH and VT and all the employees of Red River were proud to
donate our time and resources.
As we enter 2015 we are committed to the major sponsorship for the Friends of Veteran’s hockey benefit game
and their golf tournament in June. With contributions and support from our own employees we have also
raised over $18,000 in heating assistance for Veterans and we will once again have a strong presence at the
Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, CO in April. I am also excited to announce that we will
have a 1 mile fun run and a 5K in Claremont in May to recognize the Veterans in our local community.
A testament to the growth of RRTF and the impact our outreach is having was the receipt of the Dell
Philanthropic Partner of the Year. Dell has been a major contributor to our annual RRTF golf event and they
have stood shoulder to shoulder with us at our Community Service events during the Red River National Sales
Conferences. Fittingly, our theme for 2015 will be IMPACT and it will ensure that our company continues to
have a positive impact on our marketplace, our communities, and our corporate mission as we embark on
the next 20 years.
Regards,
President, Red River Technology Foundation
Advisory Board
Follow us on Twitter
www.twitter.com/RRTFRocks
Tom Harte, Landmark Benefits
Nancy Rosinski, Stevens High School
Joe Shaw, Golfer Extraordinaire
Find us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/RedRiverTechnologyFoundation
RRTF Mission
Red River Technology Foundation (RRTF) is a 501(c)(3),
charitable organization with a dual mandate and mission.
RRTF promotes and encourages students to continue
their studies in the fields of science and technology as
well as supporting US military veterans transitioning to
civilian life. RRTF provides opportunities for students
in middle school through college interested in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math with scholarships,
internships, mentoring, and donations of IT equipment.
RRTF supports veterans and their families by providing
technology career counseling and mentorships as well as
emergency monetary assistance as they integrate back
into our community.
Red River Named Dell PartnerDirect
Philanthropic Partner of the Year
Red River was honored by Dell as the 2015 Philanthropic Partner of the Year. This award
recognized Red River’s commitment in giving back to the community through volunteerism
and empowerment with Dell technology.
Golf Classic & Scholarship Recipients
In July RRTF hosted our 8th Annual Charity Golf Classic to Benefit the
Red River Technology Foundation. This event is our main fundraiser for
the Foundation, and we were fortunate to have great participation and
sponsors. Six scholarship recipients and their families were honored
guests at the event where we presented each of them $3,000, a new
laptop and printer donated by Dell.
“The Foundation’s scholarship efforts continue to grow.
This year we had students from four different local high
schools and the caliber of the students was phenomenal.
We are extremely grateful for the generosity of our partners
and local business owners and their ongoing support of
our tournament.” Rick Bolduc, Red River CEO
We would like to thank and recognize the corporate sponsors and also all
those who participated in the golf tournament and donated auction items:
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Cisco
Dell
Arrow/ECS
EMC
Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A.
Arrow Electronics
Hull Maynard Hersey Insurance
Hewlett Packard
Oracle
Granite State Harley-Davidson
Townline Equipment
Brocade
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Fusionstorm
McGladrey & Pullen
SealShield
Edgewater
Splunk
Anthem
Clearswift
F5
Gallagher
Flynn & Co.
Green Mountain
Communications
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Ingram Micro
KBZ
Key Bank
Mascoma Savings Bank
MetLife
MTS Services
Propel
ReArch
Robert Half
Sales Recruiters
Synnex
2014
Scholarship Recipients
Fall Mountain Regional High School
Sonja Hansson
Union College
Major: Bioengineering
Windsor High School
Ethan Hill
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Major: Math/Aerospace
Newport High School
Hannah Merrow
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Major: Bioinformatics
Stevens High School
Zachary Bunnell
University of Rochester
Major: Engineering
Cassondra Dale
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Major: Electrical Engineering
Kai Kleyensteuber
The University of New Hampshire
Major: Electrical Engineering
THE DATE!
SAVE
THURSDAY
JULY
16
RRTF’s 9th Annual Charity Golf Classic
at The Quechee Club
Every fall the IT department at NHTI has a semester-long
course in which IT professionals are invited to come and
speak to the first year students about their careers. A large
percentage of the speakers are NHTI Alumni who can give
the new students an idea of some of the possibilities that
exist after they graduate from the program. This year Red
River engineers, and NHTI alums, Matt Blanchette and Nate
Lambert were asked to participate. Matt and Nate spoke to
over one hundred NHTI students about an engineering career
at Red River and what our company stands for. Red River
and NHTI have formed a strong private/public partnership
providing opportunities for students in a vast array of
technology subject areas.
Girl’s Technology Day
In October, Red River sent three staff members to participate in the Young Women in Engineering Conference hosted by Northern
Heritage Mills. KC Ibey, Amber Longdon, and Sonya Woodhams spent a whole day shaping young female minds! The workshops
consisted of Architecture & Engineering, Bridge & Marine Architecture, Underwater Robotic Games & Obstacles, and Biomedical
& Environmental Engineering. The event was held at the Claremont Savings Bank Community Center and was well attended by
girls from 13 NH & VT high schools. A great day of fun and learning was had by all!
Update from Erin Truesdell,
Team Captain FRC Team 3585
It has been an exciting year for the students in the Rogue Robots of 4-H! The year began with the FIRST
Robotics Competition (FRC) kickoff in early January. The group launched into a whirlwind six-week build
season to create a robot that picked up, passed, and tossed giant exercise balls to compete in this year’s
challenge, “Aerial Assist.” The team celebrated their most successful competition season yet.
Postseason, the club hosted two 4-H National Youth Science projects and participated in a number of other events, such as River
Valley Community College’s Family Science Night, to promote STEM education among elementary and middle school-aged
students. The group also celebrated a number of team and individual successes in the summer and fall: Team 3585 reached
playoff rounds at two postseason events, and three team members were selected to present at the Big E in September based on
their scores at state and county 4-H events.
“Thank you again for hosting us and allowing us to show you what we’ve been up to this year, and thank you for Red River’s continued
sponsorship and support of the Rogue Robots. It is greatly appreciated and means that we can continue promoting STEM education in
Sullivan County.” Erin Truesdell
UNH Capstone Project
Red River has formed a strong partnership with UNH’s Peter T Paul College of Business and Economics. In addition
to employing many UNH alumni, we have visited the campus several times to provide subject matter expertise and
presentations to students on areas of business and technology. Recently Red River participated in a Capstone project
for a group of four Seniors. This team worked with Red River on business and technical requirement collection and
product selection related to a new business application Red River would deploy. The project was a win-win, the
students created a Statement of Work, completed all milestone tasks and presented to Red River and their peers to
complete the Senior project. Due to the success of this 2014 program Red River has been invited to participate again in
2015 and has submitted four applications across various business units to support the UNH capstone program.
Student Initiatives: Paying IT Forward
New Hampshire Technical Institute
Day of Service
In October Red River visited the White River Junction Veterans Administration Medical
Center (WRJ VAMC)and participated in a Day of Service on the campus. Over 130 Red River
employees from around the country and volunteers from Friends of Veterans (FoV) joined
together to complete multiple initiatives in support of Veterans and the VA. The VA-focused
Day of Service was part of Red River’s Annual Meeting and included a food drive, a Stand
Down, assembling and installing fitness stations throughout the VA campus, nature trail
clearing, building raised flower beds, and planting fruit trees and plants. In addition to
hands-on labor, Red River contributed to the cost of the fitness stations and provided lunch
and a hat from Operation Hat Trick for all attendees.
“Red River is a company that is clearly committed to community service. We were so very
pleased that the White River Junction VA was selected for this year’s annual community
service project. Despite the rain, the Red River staff worked tirelessly and completed some
amazing work that will greatly benefit our Veterans and employees. It was very meaningful to
have Red River join in our mission of service to Veterans.”
Deborah Amdur, Director, White River Junction VA Medical Center
Heating Drive
We are thrilled to report our employees met and exceeded our internal fundraising
goal of $18,000 to support the Friends of Veterans Heating Fund. Our donation will
benefit veterans in NH and VT who are struggling to keep their heat and lights on.
This is especially critical during these cold New England winters.
Friends of Veterans
In July RRTF was the major corporate sponsor at Friends of Veterans’ (FoV) 2nd Annual
Charity Golf Tournament, held at Crown Point Country Club in Springfield, VT. The
tournament was organized to raise money to support the efforts of FoV, a non-profit
organization created by veterans dedicated to helping fellow veterans and their families
avoid homelessness. Friends of Veterans provides confidential, compassionate and rapid
response counseling and financial services to fill the void in meeting the needs of veterans
and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. All funds raised by
FoV golf events go directly to meeting the needs of veterans and their families.
The 3rd Annual Charity Golf
Event will take place on
June 8th, 2015 at Baker Hill
Country Club in Newbury,
NH. For more information
call FoV at (802) 296-8368.
Operation Hat Trick
RRTF is very proud to announce a partnership with Operation Hat Trick.
Operation Hat Trick (OHT) was founded by the University of New Hampshire in
2007 as a program that delivers free hats to wounded service men and woman
in VA hospitals. The program is dedicated to the memory of Nate Hardy, the son
of a UNH professor and his wife, and Mike Koch-two Navy SEALS who fought and
died together in 2008. OHT generates awareness, support, and funding for the
recovery of America’s wounded warriors. OHT pursues these goals through the
sale of OHT branded merchandise, proceeds of which are distributed to selected
organizations that provide direct services to our wounded warriors. During our
Annual Meeting Week, Dot Sheehan, the president and founder of OHT and the
Sr. Associate Athletic Director at UNH, presented the story and mission of OHT
to all Red River employees. At the end of her presentation each employee was
given a Red River OHT hat to commemorate the partnership.
To learn more about OHT visit:
www.operationhattrick.com
Fort Hood
Snowmass
During our National Sales Conference in February 2015 Red
River employees and our partners will participate in a Day of
Service at the Fischer House at Fort Hood, TX. Fisher House is
a “home away from home” for military personnel (both active
and retired) and their families during a medical crisis.
For the third time Red River will be a corporate sponsor of the
Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, CO. This event in early April
is the world leader in adaptive sports instruction for disabled
veterans. This year over 400 veterans will participate in a number
of sports including skiing, rock climbing, scuba diving and more.
Honoring Veterans
“Red River was honored to sponsor this fantastic charitable event and contribute to the continuing
success of Friends of Veterans in their efforts to end homelessness among veterans and their
families,” Dan McGee, Red River Sr. Vice President of Operations
Red River/OHT baseball hats (like the one below) and black acrylic winter hats are available
for purchase? Portions of the proceeds go to the Foundation and also to OHT. Email us at
foundation@redriver.com to place an order!
DID YOU
KNOW
Since 2008 RRTF has awarded over $61,000 in scholarships and laptops to 24 area students!
Red River Technology Foundation is now on Facebook! Be one of the 1st 100 people to like
us and you will be in a drawing to win an OHT/Red River hat! Don’t delay… Like us today!
Many of the photos courtesy of James Connal
Corporate Headquarters
21 Water St., Suite 500
Claremont, NH 03743
Phone: 603-448-8880
www.redriver.com
Washington D.C. Office
11951 Freedom Drive, Suite 1010
Reston, VA 20190
Phone: 703-476-6300
foundation@redriver.com | Tax ID# 26-3579377