People often think that in order to really help out and make a difference in the community, you have to be a big company with tons of money to throw around. The good news is that’s not necessarily true, GLAD WORKS friends: help can come in many unexpected ways!

GLAD WORKS dedicates itself to being involved in the community. Although we’re a very successful company, we’re not a big corporation with deep pockets, but that’s okay! It doesn’t stop us from doing our part—we have time and talent to give, so that’s what we do! We have volunteered our GLAD WORKS services to many non-profits, including the likes of the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, Children’s Friend and Service, Festival Ballet Providence, WaterFire, Save the Bay, StyleWeek Providence and the Fire Department of New York.

As anyone who has donated services can attest, not only does it feel incredibly good to help out, but it has the added side benefit of providing great networking opportunities and exposure. You can never go wrong by establishing a reputation for caring about and being engaged with the community in which you do business. The positive associations with your brand that your work creates are pure gold.

Since we have just spent the weekend commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11, we thought it would be fitting to share the story of our involvement with FDNY a short time after the tragedy struck. We noticed that local companies were doing various things to help out, and wondered what we, too, might be able to do. Simply writing a check and dropping it in the mail didn’t seem personal enough, so we decided to reach out to FDNY to see if there was anything we could do.

As it turned out, they were so overwhelmed with the search and recovery effort—mapping satellite feeds to the cleanup crew who needed constant support—that they were forced to put all their other projects on hold. GLAD WORKS offered to help them out by taking on some of those important projects. After some strategic conversation, we came to the table with two donated websites: one for The Fire Museum and the other for The Fire Zone.

The Fire Zone, located in Rockefeller Center, served to educate the public about the basics of fire safety. Not content to walk away once the website was complete, we continued the relationship, providing design, photography, copywriting, and technology services for their email campaigns over the next several years.

We cannot tell you how good it felt to help out! We have so much personal pride that came along with that experience. To commemorate that pride, we wanted a lasting tribute in our office to the men and women of the FDNY. Having just moved into our office in January 2002, right after September 11th, we stenciled “FDNY” onto one of the fire pipes that had just been repainted. To this day it’s a fond spot in our office where we can stand beneath the name and remember—both the work that we did, and the 343 brave firefighters who gave their lives on that tragic day.