Giving. Merkle employees are very passionate about social responsibility and helping to make their world and local communities better.

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1 Giving. Merkle employees are very passionate about social responsibility and helping to make their world and local communities better. Giving 7.15 Please briefly describe your organization s philanthropic, environmental, or other corporate social responsibility initiatives, focusing on how employees participate in and/or derive value from these efforts. 1

2 GIVING 7.15 Merkle employees are very passionate about social responsibility and helping to make their world and local communities better. What makes our efforts truly unique is that they are 100% employee-led and employee-driven. We operate in many different cities and communities, and we understand that needs differ in each one. To be respectful of that, the company encourages each office to take the lead by choosing local causes they d like to support. Often, Merkle will contribute to fundraising efforts organized by employees, but each instance is initiated by employees based on their own interests and the needs of the local community. Joining together to help those in need creates deeper, more meaningful bonds between employees and among all office locations. Relationships built through supporting common causes are deeply felt and personal. In addition to our employees efforts described below, Merkle itself makes generous contributions to charities and causes of all kinds. These contributions total in the hundreds of thousands annually. Merkle s Social Responsibility Chatter group is one of the largest and most popular throughout the company. Using it as the primary communication tool, any Merkle employee can crowdsource the charity of their choice, announce their intent to donate funds or time, share pertinent details, or enlist others to participate, whether from a specific Merkle office or company-wide. 2

3 At Merkle, employee-driven fundraisers run the gamut from supporting client charity events or raising money for local nonprofits to joining together to support a cause that an individual employee is passionate about. Examples from the past year are described below. The American Cancer Society s Relay for Life: Merkle employees raised funds for the American Cancer Society this spring at their local Relay for Life event. Employee-led Merkle teams solicited donations company-wide, with many employees walking to honor friends and loved ones who d battled cancer. In addition, lighted luminaries to light the Relay path were sold as an additional fundraiser, dedicated to a fellow Merkle employee who successfully fought cancer. Bistro Collection Jar: Employees purchasing food items at the Columbia office s Bistro café can choose to round up the amount of their purchase and donate the difference or simply drop cash in a jar to support a different deserving charity each month. The American Heart Association s Go Red for Women campaign, New York s Bowery Mission, the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity and the National MS Society were just a few of the recipients so far in Passionately Pink for the Cure: Thirsty Thursday drink fundraisers, happy hours and bake-offs are held through Merkle offices annually to raise funds for research and education to fight breast cancer through Susan G. Komen. 3

4 Movember : This popular fundraiser brought in over $15,000 to increase funding and awareness for men s testicular and prostate cancer initiatives. Merkle employees participated by either growing their own mustache and enlisting sponsors, or sponsoring a co-worker s efforts with pledges. Sharing photos of all the fledgling staches added humor and hilarity to a great cause that drew wide employee support across Merkle offices. Raven s ACT Foundation: A raffle raised funds for the charitable giving foundation associated with the Baltimore Ravens NFL team. Homeless Shelters: Each year employees in the Columbia, Little Rock and Boston offices donate thousands of dollars in cash as well as several large boxes of food and dry goods to local shelters that help families in need. Toys for Tots: Merkle employees organized a Toys for Tots event to give disadvantaged children toys for the holidays. Eight huge boxes of toys were collected, packed and donated. As one Merkle employee involved in the drive explained, I felt great that we re not forgetting our local community. It was a fun event that gave people a chance to give. Helping Animals: Boston-area employees participated in a Pet Drive at Nevins Farm, where they successfully collected cash and goods donated to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 4

5 Cradles to Crayons: King of Prussia employees led a Christmas Wish List Drive for the nonprofit children s charity Cradles to Crayons, packing an SUV full of donated winter coats, hats, gloves, toys, books, games and more to be distributed to disadvantaged children in the Philadelphia area. Volunteering at a Local Children s Museum: Employees volunteer at a local Children s Discovery Museum in Little Rock, contributing hundreds of hours of time. Blood Drives for the American Red Cross: Employees at several Merkle locations participate in these important efforts throughout the year. Hospital Aid: As a Bronze Sponsor of the Arkansas Children s Hospital Faulkner County Circle of Friends Tailgating for Tots events, Merkle raised $21,000 for the hospital s new Hematology/Oncology Clinic. Employees from our Little Rock office also donated hours of service helping the downtown library prepare for their quarterly book sale. Funds from the book sale helped the Central Arkansas Library System provide programs at branches and additionally provided book club kits, as well as Summer Reading Club and special Saturday programming for children at the Main Library. Feed My Starving Children: Employees hand-packed specially formulated nutritional dry food mixes designed for malnourished children for this nonprofit organization. In just a few hours, our team of employees in 5

6 Minneapolis was able to pack enough food packets to provide nourishment for 65 hungry children for an entire year. Habitat for Humanity: Merkle employees and teams from several locations participate in local Habitat for Humanity efforts. Charitable Marathons, Bike Races, Muck Fests, Color Runs even Polar Plunges: Merkle employees do them all and all for good causes. By empowering employees to make their own choices about which charities to support, rather than enforcing a top-down approach, Merkle helps foster creativity and camaraderie in a way that a company-wide campaign never could. Simply by allowing our employees to share the best of themselves improves teamwork, relationships, self esteem and positivity, all while helping to make the world a better place. And there is one last thing we do. At each of our quarterly meetings, we take a minute to reflect on all the good that was done over the past three months. We list out all of the charitable activities and donations we ve made. It s remarkable to see what we accomplish together and it inspires us to do more. 6