Sonnax News

Sonnax Supports Vermont Hurricane Relief Efforts

Hurricane Irene roared up the East Coast the weekend of Aug. 27–28, leaving damage and destruction from North Carolina to New England. The storm had lost much of its high winds by the time it reached New England, but it still carried a considerable amount of moisture. When it reached the mountains of Vermont, it dumped much of that rain in a matter of hours. Rivers and streams overflowed, creating the worst flooding in decades. Many roads and bridges, including many of the state’s prized covered bridges dating back more than a hundred years, were washed out. This left many of Vermont’s residents stranded.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, the employee-owned Sonnax Industries of Bellows Falls, Vt., was looking for ways to help. Like many others in Vermont and New Hampshire, employees had been directly affected by this tragedy or had friends and neighbors who had been impacted. Sonnax President & CEO Tommy Harmon issued the following challenge: donate money for the Red Cross of Vermont and New Hampshire and the Vermont Food Bank, and the company would match employees’ contributions, dollar for dollar, up to $5,000. In addition, Harmon and Sonnax board member Rick Fritz would personally match contributions, creating $4 of disaster relief for every dollar pledged by Sonnax employees.

But the dedication of the people of Sonnax to lend a hand didn’t end there. In addition to the need for monetary donations, helping hands were sought to help victims dig out from the devastation. To encourage employees to volunteer for this effort, Sonnax agreed to pay them for up to eight hours of time spent volunteering in the disaster relief effort during their regular work hours.

As has become the tradition when Sonnax campaigns to raise money for charitable causes, Maintenance Technician Steve Cheeney prepared one of his famous spaghetti lunches. Cheeney grows the vegetables and does the cooking for these spaghetti fundraisers, and Sonnax employees once again gladly lined up to donate and enjoy the treat, raising a record $778 in just a few short hours.

The final tally? Sonnax employees raised $5,093. With the matching pledges from Harmon and Fritz, plus the company contribution, a total of $20,093 was donated to the Red Cross of Vermont and New Hampshire and the Vermont Food Bank. This money, along with countless hours spent on the volunteer effort by Sonnax employees, is further proof that Sonnax takes very seriously its commitment to giving back to the community.