KBE Building Corporation And Its Employees Donate Over $22,000 And 2,200 Hours of Service To The Needy

Online, January 4, 2012 (Newswire.com) - What began as a philanthropic endeavor to help celebrate its 50th year in business has now become a part of the culture at KBE Building Corporation (KBE) (www.kbebuilding.com). The award-winning initiative, 50 Ways to Make a Difference, is now an annual, yearlong community outreach program that supports communities where the firm's employees work and live. 2012 will be the third year of the program, which has an emphasis on fighting hunger and supporting programs that benefit seniors.

In 2011, KBE and its employees donated more than $22,000 to local organizations. These funds were generated from three sources: 1) company donations, 2) employees' loose change from their Change Makes a Difference initiative, and 3) employees' "fees" for participating in Jeans Fridays, when they can wear jeans to work in exchange for a donation of $2. All employee donations were matched by KBE's owners Mike Kolakowski, Eric Brown, and Simon Etzel, and donated to a local homeless shelter or food pantry.

50 Ways to Make a Difference was expanded in 2011 to include not only monetary donations, but also greater hands-on participation from the firm's 125 employees, who established a 1,200-hour volunteer goal. The volunteer hours initiative was so successful that the employees shattered their goal, logging more than 2,200 hours of community service. "All the monetary donations were great, but our folks wanted to do more" said Simon Etzel, KBE Senior Vice President and Chairman of the 50 Ways to Make a Difference program. "This program is about each KBE employee having the opportunity to give their time in support of a cause or a charitable organization in our communities."

KBE's approach in developing the program was to provide benefits to as many communities as possible, and help fund smaller, but no less meaningful, projects that are typically abandoned during tough economic times. An in-house committee was charged with the difficult task of selecting award recipients. The program recently won the Annual Community Service Award from the Connecticut Construction Industries Association for "enhancing the overall image of the construction industry" and for "outstanding efforts in (KBE's) commitment to improving the overall quality of life for Connecticut's citizens while demonstrating a sustained commitment to the community." KBE has offices in both Connecticut and Maryland.

Community feedback for the program has been strong and rewarding: "We are very appreciative to KBE for helping Hockanum Valley in these tough economic times and are extremely grateful for all we are given," said David Engleston, CEO Hockanum Valley (CT) Community Council.

According to Sarah McAleavy, Director of the Frederick (MD) Food Bank, KBE's donation will feed approximately 120 families for a week. "When I came on board four years ago, we were serving about 350 families per month, but now we're up to 750-800 per month, so the need has significantly increased", said Ms. McAleavy. The food bank runs primarily on donations. McAleavy added: "without donations such as this, we couldn't help the people that we help. This money goes a long way."

KBE invites input from civic leaders and community organizations from across Connecticut to submit an application for a grant and/or donation of services. In the past, grants have averaged up to $1,500 in value. In addition, KBE has also donated services that include preconstruction services and construction labor on select projects.