THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 16, 1994 TAG: 9412150177
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
IF ANYONE EVER decides to give an award for most persuasive employee fund-raiser, Kathy Villanueva of Hermes Abrasives would win it hands down.
Armed only with a big grin, a ``surely you can do something'' attitude and an ever-expanding file of paperwork, Villanueva set out to see that the company made a real difference in the lives of seven families with terminally ill children who are served by the Portsmouth-based Edmarc hospice.
``If you can raise $1,000, we'll give you $500 more,'' the powers that be at the German company's Viking Drive headquarters told her. That was back in October.
``When we had already raised $158 by the seventh of that month I knew we were going to make it,'' she said.
Make it they did, but not through the usual methods of hat-passing and arm-twisting.
Well, actually Villanueva may have done a little arm-twisting. But always with a smile on her face and always with the goal of serving some very special families foremost in her mind.
``Hey, anybody can bake something and bring it in to raffle off,'' she'd say. Or ``how about if you bring your crock pot in so we can use it to heat hot dogs?'' she'd ask.
Those were two of the fund-raisers she and the other members of the Christmas Fund Drive committee came up with. Between Oct. 14 and Dec. 2 the group raffled or auctioned off cakes, baked goods, hams, turkeys and pies. They opened a mini-gift shop and sold items with the company logo. They also sold snack and lunch treats like sloppy Joes, hot dogs and doughnuts. All sales were made right on the company property and all were big sellers. Especially the doughnuts.
``I went over to Krispy Kreme one morning, loaded 100 dozen in my car and sold them all by lunch time,'' Villanueva said.
On Dec. 6, two months after the fund-raising drive began and a week before the gifts were to be delivered to the families, a note went out from Villanueva to fellow employees.
``I'm proud to announce we made our goal of $1,000 for the Edmarc children and their families,'' she wrote.
And more as well. There was, of course, the $500 in matching funds which the company had promised. And, when Villanueva found that all of the families they were serving would welcome a quiet dinner out, she picked up the Yellow Pages marked ``restaurants'' and started calling around.
The results were $160 worth of dinners for two, courtesy of eateries ranging from barbecue places to one of the finest seafood restaurants in town.
When everything was totaled Villanueva was able to announce that Hermes employees had been responsible for providing $1,749.30 to the Edmarc families.
Working with the committee to raise the funds wasn't her only job, however. Most years everyone helps with shopping for whatever group the company chooses to help at Christmas. This year, because of a tight time frame, one person did all of the shopping.
Villanueva.
``I'm a shopoholic, I loved every minute of it,'' she admitted of the time she spent tracking down special requests and pushing a shopping cart through WalMart.
According to Hermes personnel manager Sharon Roberson, the success of the Christmas fund-raising drive is typical for the close-knit employees of the company, which has made its United States home in Virginia Beach since 1979.
``Our employees stay with us for a long time,'' she said, ``and they're very good about supporting local charities.''
Especially, she could have added, when workers like Kathy Villanueva and her committee are involved. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
According to Hermes personnel manager Sharon Roberson, left, the
success of the Christmas fund-raising drive is typical for the
close-knit employees of the Virginia Beach-based company, including
lead fund-raiser Kathy Villanueva, right.
by CNB