Novelis Wraps up United Way Campaign – UNITED WAY – Oswego County

1/30/2017

Oswego, NY – Year after year the Novelis workplace campaign, among others, plays a vital role in the success of the United Way of Greater Oswego County?s Annual Campaign.? Thanks to the generosity of Novelis employees that tradition continued as this year?s workplace campaign, combined with a donor match from Novelis corporate, raised $110,648 in support of United Way.

Coordinator for Novelis? workplace campaign Julie Becker attributed the success of the workplace campaign to a combination of education and employee involvement in fun and unique fundraising events.? ?This was my first year serving as campaign coordinator,? said Becker.? ?It allowed me to become very familiar with United Way, the programs it helps support, and the tremendous impact those programs have on the overall health and well-being of Oswego County.? It was a real learning experience for me and I was able to share that education with my fellow employees.? With approximately 80% of our workforce residing in Oswego County it?s important to know that United Way funds benefit their family, friends, and neighbors right here in their own community.?

According to Becker a number of fundraisers added an entertaining aspect to this year?s campaign.? ?In early November we hosted an on-site ?Polar Plunge? fundraising event.? Big Kahuna Rentals in Mexico loaned us a dunking booth, free of charge, where members of the Novelis management team took turns taking a polar plunge for United Way.? In addition we held several drawings throughout the campaign for themed baskets created with some great items and gift cards that our employees collected from area businesses,” said Becker.

With the success of her initial campaign as coordinator, Becker is already looking forward to ways in which next year?s campaign may be even more successful.? ?I would like to see us expand the length of our campaign and have the ability to host quarterly fundraisers and continuously remind our workforce of the importance of United Way,? said Becker.? ?I enjoyed the opportunity to be able to visit every area of our plant and speaking with employees to educate them about United Way and its mission, which truly resonates with me.? As Continuous Improvement Specialist at Novelis my responsibility is to find out the cause of a problem and finding a way to solve it as opposed to putting a temporary patch on it.? That?s what United Way funded programs seek to do, solve the problem rather than just treat it.? United Way?s mission correlates nicely with mine and made it easy for me to share United Way?s mission and the impact it has on our community with my fellow employees.?

Becker added that she is conducting a post-campaign survey to get feedback from employees regarding the campaign.? ?It will be helpful to know what aspects of the campaign employees liked the best and discover if they have any suggestions that may help make next year?s campaign even more successful.? We have a great team here at Novelis that supports the community as much as we can.? We work here, we live here, and we earn here.? It?s very rewarding to be able to give back and help others right here in Oswego County.?

The tremendous effort put forth by Becker, her fellow campaign committee members, and the generosity of Novelis employees and corporate is greatly appreciated by United Way?s local leadership.

?We are fortunate to enjoy such a wonderful relationship with Novelis,? said United Way Resource Development Director Ali McGrath.? ?Aside from our connection we have with the workplace campaign Novelis employees are very involved in the community.? We are seeing more and more Novelis employees volunteering and lending us a hand at different events we put on throughout the year.? Novelis employees are also learning about our member-agencies.?? Whether it?s through our relationship, or Novelis? relationship with that agency, their involvement and understanding of the importance of these programs is growing ? and that creates positive impact in our community.? We can?t thank Novelis enough for this.?

Cut line for photo: United Way of Greater Oswego County Executive Director Patrick Dewine recently received the results of the Novelis workplace campaign in support of United Way.? The Novelis campaign, combined with a donor match from Novelis corporate, totaled $110,648. From left in front are Julie Becker, Malcolm Gabriel, and Katy Brasser.? In the back row from left are Kaitlyn White, Mike Herron, Kevin Shutt, Tim Foster, and Patrick Dewine.