Through the Schneider Foundation, the success of our company and our associates is directly linked to the success of our communities. It’s important to Schneider’s culture that we give back, especially to causes that our associates support. In the past we have moved Christmas wreaths from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery (Wreaths Across America) and coffee donated from different locations to military bases for troops that will be deployed overseas.
A recent example of Schneider in-kind donations is to a city we’ve seen quite a bit of in the news: Flint, Mich.
On Jan. 5, 2016, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared the city to be in a state of emergency. Two weeks later, President Barack Obama gave it the same federal designation.
The request to get involved with Flint, Mich., was initiated by a connection to internal Schneider associates Cameron, Michael Wundrock and others who took the lead to collect bottled water, which then needed to be hauled to the citizens of Flint.
A culture of collaboration
In-kind donations provide a chance for us to collaborate with others to meet a charitable goal. That was certainly the case with the Flint load. Maddie Wundrock, 18-year-old daughter of Schneider associate Michael Wundrock, was moved by the coverage of children impacted by the water crisis and knew she had to do something.
With a big heart, Maddie began a fundraiser aptly named Here 2 Offer Help (H2O Help) at her high school in Muskego, Wis. The kids raised funds and Maddie was able to purchase enough water to quench the thirst of more than 38,000 citizens of Flint, Mich., and Schneider happily agreed to move the load for free. Schneider three-million-mile driver Bruce Yliniemi, who hauled the special load to Flint, was more than happy to dedicate his time to driving it to those in need.
In addition to our collaboration with Muskego High School, we worked with the son of a Tucker’s Truck Driving Academy, LLC associate to coordinate a drop off of 38,400 bottles of water for the residents in need of clean drinking water.
Furthermore, Niagara Bottling in Dallas, Texas, partnered with the University of North Texas to collect bottled water, which we then delivered to Flint, Mich.
In total, we have delivered seven loads of bottled water and counting to the people of Flint!
No distance is too far when it comes to supporting a valuable cause
Each year, we make approximately 40 in-kind moves to support the desires of our associates to help others. It doesn’t matter to us what we’re hauling or how many miles it takes to get there. What matters most is that we’re making a difference in people’s lives — and helping Schneider associates support causes they believe in.
