On April 24th, Macon teammates held their First Responders Appreciation Cookout. With over 140 people attending, teammates were humbled by the stories shared by the first responders in attendance.
On May 8th, Carrollton teammates had the pleasure of hosting at East Carrollton Parks & Recreation. After sitting down to lunch and getting a chance to know one another, some of the firefighters in attendance gave Northwest Teammates a tour of the trucks, equipment, and fire house!
The LaGrange First Responders Appreciation cookout was held at the George Harris Baseball Complex on May 28th. The responders that had been on call over Memorial Day Weekend were extremely appreciative for the chance to have some much needed down time and good food.
This was the 2ndyear the Tucker teammates visited their neighboring Fire Station to show thanks for all that they do. Northwest teammates had a chance to get to know more about the first responders in that area and even share a little bit of what we do at Northwest.
For the 2ndyear, the Savannah team partnered with local business to host their First Responders’ Appreciation Cookout. Co-hosted with Savannah Harley-Davidson and Firehouse Subs, the event attracted first responders throughout the region!
This year we returned to visit our favorite four-legged officer on the force, Kai! Our team was able to present Officer Sherfield and Kai with a brand-new bulletproof vest. Also, in attendance was South Carolina House District 14 Representative, Stewart Jones, who joined the Piedmont teammates in thanking all the men and women who dedicate themselves to keeping the community safe.
On Saturday, June 15th, our LaGrange teammates came together to lend a hand to the LaGrange chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace and assist in the construction of 80 bunk beds.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a non-profit that builds and delivers beds to children in need. By noticing the generosity in other charities when it came to donations of clothing, toys, and food, the founders of Sleep in Heavenly Peace saw there was a gap to fill in respect to donated beds and bedding. Their belief is “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.” This past Saturday was the first National Bunks Across America Build Day, and 120 Sleep in Heavenly chapters took part in this historic day of giving back.
This was the 2nd year volunteering for the LaGrange team with Sleep in Heavenly Peace. Over 200 volunteers came out to participate on Saturday, exceeding the expected 125. This became a community-wide effort, where local businesses, churches, and teams donated their time for this amazing cause. Everyone from children as young as 4 to adults had a part in making this special event a success.
For more on information on Sleep in Heavenly Peace and how you can get involved, visit their website.
We are extremely excited to announce our 2018 Northwest Good Deed Ambassador of the Year, Missy Mallick. One of our Northwest teammates from our Savannah service center, Missy truly embodies the “Be Extraordinary” of the Northwest Way. Her dedication to serving the community has led her to head many of our Good Deed initiatives.
A key volunteer at the Willett Children’s Hospital, Missy has encouraged and championed her teammates to bring smiles to all of the children during their hospital stay. Missy was also the organizer for our original First Responder’s cookout in Savannah in 2017. The First Responder events have since been implemented in all our Northwest service centers, and the Savannah 2018 First Responder Cookout had over 500 first responders and veterans in attendance!
Missy’s kindness and ability to recognize the needs within her community extends beyond her work with the Good Deed Team. In her spare time, she volunteers as a caregiver support leader and is a public speaker and fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. She also volunteers as a disaster assessor in 8 counties for the American Red Cross and with training guide dogs for the Southeastern Guide Dogs in Tampa, Florida. With a true servant’s heart, Missy creates extraordinary experiences for all she meets.
On March 14th and 15th, Northwest teammates joined the Northwest Good Deed Team to again lend a helping hand to the Feed My Starving Children “From Hunger to Hope” initiative.
Founded in 1987, Feed My Starving Children leads a global call-to-action to end hunger. By working with volunteers and distribution partners, their mission is “to reach everyone until ALL are fed.” In 2018, Feed My Starving Children was able to provide more than 966,000 children with one meal a day for an entire year.
“Coming back to work with this amazing organization for another year has been a very humbling and rewarding experience,” said Kristen Milligan, Co-Director of the Good Deed Team. The Northwest Good Deed Team searches within the communities in which we serve for opportunities to give back. We are extremely fortunate to have found great organizations like Feed My Starving Children to partner with to help make a difference.
Over the two days, 70 Northwest teammates helped prepare 141 boxes, totaling 30,456 meals! For information on the Good Deed Team, visit: https://www.callnorthwest.com/thegooddeedsteam/ or email gooddeeds@callnorthwest.com.
About the Northwest Good Deed Team – As much as Northwest Exterminating is in the pest control business, we’re even more so in the people business. It’s that train of thinking that pushes us to think outside the box on how we can better serve the communities we live and work in; the creation of our Good Deed Team came from just that. The Good Deed team is an active part of the Northwest Family that seeks out and partners with local schools, businesses, and organizations to create an impact throughout our communities. We love that we get the chance to help not only our customers protect their homes from pest, termites, mosquitoes, insulation, lawn, and wildlife issues but also help our communities become even better places to call home.
About Northwest Exterminating – Northwest Exterminating was founded in 1951 and has grown to include service center locations across four states. We specialize in residential and commercial pest, termite, lawn care, wildlife, insulation, gutter protection, and mosquito services. We were ranked as one of the “Best Places to Work” by the AJC for seven consecutive years and are listed as the 17th largest pest control operator nationwide by industry trade magazine PCT, in its 2017 publication of the 100 top companies in the industry.
On December 14th & 15th, the Northwest Good Deeds Team and many Northwest Teammates ventured to the Atlanta Toys for Tots warehouse for two days of volunteering and fellowship.
Partnering with Toys for Tots for several years, Northwest views this event as a great way to foster the relationships we have developed in the community. “This comes back full circle as evident in the smiles of the parents and each child who receives toys through this program,” says Kristen Milligan, Co-Director of the Good Deeds Team.
The Toys for Tots goal is “to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.” This easily aligns with the Northwest Good Deeds goal of providing simple, meaningful opportunities for Northwest teammates to create a positive impact in the community in which we serve. Over the two days, everyone enjoyed the company of one another and the chance to give back this holiday season. Northwest’s Co-Presidents Stephen and Stanford Phillips joined the team to help fulfill orders, “It’s amazing to see everyone helping, and they are genuinely happy to be doing so.”
About the Northwest Good Deeds Team – As much as Northwest Exterminating is in the pest control business, we’re even more so in the people business. It’s that train of thinking that pushes us to think outside the box on how we can better serve the communities we live and work in; the creation of our Good Deeds Team came from just that. The Good Deeds team is an active part of the Northwest Family that seeks out and partners with local schools, businesses and organizations to create an impact throughout our communities. We love that we get the chance to help not only our customers protect their homes from pest, termites, mosquitoes, insulation, lawn, and wildlife issues but also help our communities become even better places to call home.
In October, The Good Deeds Team Co-Directors, Greg Green and Kristen Milligan, along with Northwest’s Creative Learning Specialist, Melissa Shiver, were honored to attend and speak at the WIDA National Conference in Detroit, Michigan. The theme of this year’s four-day conference was “Schools and Community Empowering One Another,” and the team was excited for the opportunity to discuss the Libros/Books Bilingual Literacy Program and the impact that it has had on the families, teachers, and school district as a whole.
Three ESL Specialists from the Tuscaloosa City ESL Department, Samantha Shuler, Tiffany Craig and Katie Harrison, also accompanied the team to answer questions and to share in the 75-minute presentation. The key touch points of the presentation were the development, implementation, and impact of the Literacy Program, which highlighted specific strategies, activities, and resources that were useful to the team. The audience also engaged in conversations surrounding the obstacles they faced, including program development, budgeting and funding, community resources and support, and parent engagement.
The audience also had the opportunity to hear from families who have participated in the program, as some families documented their experience on video. The families spoke on how this program helped them learn ways to develop early reading literacy in their home language that can benefit their children when they begin learning to read in English. The purpose of the Libros/Books Bilingual Literacy Program was to create early reading strategies that can begin at home and be applied in the classroom; engaging parents with school and community gives students more opportunities to develop academic language daily.
“We’re hopeful that this program will show how community businesses, schools, and the family can partner together to empower a student’s successful development of early literacy skills,” said Milligan. This program reflects one of the key components to the Good Deeds Team: to look out into our communities to make an impact in our local schools, businesses, and organizations. We were so thankful to be invited to tell the story, progress, success of the Family Literacy Program so far.
About the Family Literacy Program – The Family Literacy Program is intended to bridge early reading strategies that can begin at home and can be applied in the classroom. This program directly shows the importance of providing families the opportunities to gain strategies and materials to help develop early literacy skills for young students. Strategies encourage native language support while developing second language acquisition. Engaging parents with school and community gives students more opportunities to develop academic language daily. This program will show how community businesses, schools, and the family can partner together to empower a student’s successful development of early literacy skills.
About the Northwest Good Deeds Team – As much as Northwest Exterminating is in the pest control business, we’re even more so in the people business. It’s that train of thinking that pushes us to think outside the box on how we can better serve the communities we live and work in; the creation of our Good Deeds Team came from just that. The Good Deeds team is an active part of the Northwest Family that seeks out and partners with local schools, businesses and organizations to create an impact throughout our communities. We love that we get the chance to help not only our customers protect their homes from pest, termites, mosquitoes, insulation, lawn, and wildlife issues but also help our communities become even better places to call home.
