Brady is matching contributions from employees in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia who made donations at the Brady Asia sales meeting last week. Employees in Canada and Japan are working together to collect contributions. Employees from the U.K. Germany, Mexico, Brazil and Canada have made individual contributions that Brady will match.

Now that Hurricane relief efforts have provided basic needs including food, water, shelter and clothing to Hurricane Katrina refugees, assistance for those displaced is taking on new forms. Kids are beginning to return to school, however, buying notebooks, pencils and backpacks is not a priority for many displaced families.

Brady employees, with help from a local Girl Scout Troop and Varsity Volleyball Team, used an assembly line process to fill backpacks with pencils, markers, folders, paper, notebooks, rulers and more, all items school children need to return to class.

That’s where Brady comes in. Yesterday evening at Brady’s Good Hope Road location the mission was project "Backpacks for the Bayou." Employees coordinated donations and recruited volunteers to help pack 350 backpacks to be distributed by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mississippi.

Brady’s Customer Service Team raised money for the project and enlisted the help of kids to help the kids in Mississippi. Charlene Novak, Brady employee and Girl Scout Troop leader, recruited 15 girls from Troop 196 at Parkway School in Glendale, Wis. In addition, 13 members of the Varsity Girls Volleyball Team from Menomonee Falls High School were on hand to help.

Project team members Lynn Fields, Vicky Fiumefreddo, Melanie Goulee, Karen Hamilton, Carole Herbstreit, Al Klotsche, Sue Merrill and Charlene Novak also enlisted donations to support the project.

• Avery Dennison donated 600 3-ring binders.
• Brady purchased office supplies for this project, and Corporate Express matched the Company’s purchase with an additional $1,800 in supplies.
• Promotional Services Group in New Berlin donated 108 coolers on wheels and allowed Brady to purchase backpacks at cost.
• Charlene Novak coordinated the donation of 350 Beanie Baby stuffed animal toys from the family of Jan Miller to pack in the backpacks.
• Brady’s food service company provided dinner for the hard-working backpack packers.

According to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mississippi, providing school supplies for children who are already adjusting to so much will help to normalize the school experience for them and get them off to a better start as they move on with their lives and education.

Donations of Goods

In addition to collecting cash contributions for relief efforts, in early September, Emed employees donated beverages and the operation donated packing supplies for shipping food, water and necessary supplies to storm ravaged areas.