The story of the Give Back Crew
In 2011, when employees of AK Material Handling Systems felt a calling to give back to the community by getting outside the confines of their office and their comfort zones. The Give Back Crew established relationships with local organizations such as Feed My Starving Children, The Salvation Army, St. Jude’s and others. Together, the Give Back Crew team packed food, rang bells and helped raise funds by participating in races and other charity-driven events. Almost immediately, it was discovered that being involved in these events sparked a new passion for teaming up for the benefit of a good cause. Not only did it feel good to provide value for those less fortunate, but the GBC team members grew closer both as colleagues and as friends while doing it. In 2014, this passion inspired the GBC to register with the State of Minnesota as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Since the GBC’s inception as nonprofit, we’ve had the honor of participating in a wide range of charitable events — raising money for men’s health through Movember, placing charitable bets with AK Material Handling Systems’s industry peers, climbing the Capella Tower to help the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and racing mattresses down Buck Hill in the Bedrace for Bridging, to name a few.
Today and Beyond
Now our sights are set on new, more focused goals.
While participating in and spreading awareness of charitable events is certainly a valuable use of time, charitable work also requires funding. So, with no plans of reducing our participation in community events, we are significantly increasing our fundraising efforts from previous years. By combining investments of time, effort and materials with deliberate fundraising activity, we plan to make an impact year-over-year and serve more communities than ever.
Please note — because the Give Back Crew is sponsored by AK Material Handling Systems, no money donated to the Give Back Crew will go to administrative costs, further investment or any other overhead. The only money not transmitted directly to the charity is a small percentage collected by fundraising platform and processing fees.