Community Relations | Featured Stories

Ingram Micro Raises More than $255,000 American Red Cross Career Beginnings Jimmy V Foundation Friendly Center

Hands Together Discovery Science Center Orange County High School of Arts WISEPlace

Ingram Micro Swings into Action and Raises More than $255,000 for Charity

For more than 15 years, Ingram Micro’s North American offices have hosted very successful Golf Classics that benefit numerous local charities, and this year’s tournaments were no different — together, raising more than $250,000.

The August month proved to be perfect for all three tournaments. Together Ingram Micro’s Buffalo, Santa Ana and Mississauga, Ont., golf tournament committees registered over 450 golfers who all enjoyed many fun activities throughout their events.

More than $150,000 from the Buffalo golf tournament was distributed to five local charities. Their main recipient was Kevin Guest House, which received $35,000. Other charities included Brian Moorman’s Punt Foundation, Rivershore Adult Facility and Heritage Center who each received $25,000 and Moving Miracles who received $20,000.

About $100,000 was raised from the Santa Ana golf tournament and was distributed to five local charities. Alzheimer’s Association, Braille Institute, Canyon Acres, Community/ SeniorServ and Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) were each presented with a check for $15,000. All of Santa Ana’s remaining funds went to other charities throughout the remainder of year.

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American Red Cross

The American Red Cross is where people mobilize to help their neighbors-- across the street, across the country and across the world -- in emergencies. Each year, in communities large and small, victims of some 70,000 disasters turn to neighbors familiar and new -- the nearly 1 million volunteers and 35,000 employees of the Red Cross. Through nearly 760 locally supported chapters, more than 15 million people gain the skills they need to prepare for and respond to emergencies in their homes, communities and world. Some 4 million people give blood -- the gift of life -- through the Red Cross, making it the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The Red Cross helps thousands of U.S. service members separated from their families by military duty stay connected.
www.redcross.org

Ingram Micro donated $55,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to assist in China's earthquake relief efforts. Ingram Micro associates from around the world donated money, which the company matched. All donations were given to their respective local Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies which ensured that the funds were sent through the International Red Cross and ultimately received by the Red Cross of China for its relief efforts.

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Career Beginnings

Career Beginnings Mentoring Program (CBMP) is a non-profit organization that works with Orange County school districts and business professionals to provide mentors for high school students. CBMP's mission is to transition youth from high school into higher education and vocations so they become successful, prepared, contributing adults.
www.cbmp.org

Ingram Micro’s corporate community relations team kicked off 2008 in a big way with an event for Career Beginnings. Ingram Micro helps this organization by donating $5,000 each year and hosting an annual dinner event, where Ingram Micro associates give presentations on resume building, time management and interviewing skills to help the students put their best foot forward.

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Jimmy V Foundation

The V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. The Foundation seeks to make a difference by generating broad-based support for cancer research and by creating an urgent awareness among all Americans of the importance of the war against cancer. The V Foundation performs these dual roles through advocacy, education, fundraising and philanthropy.
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Ingram Micro’s Santa Ana Philanthropic Committee organized a fun contest between executives and associates to raise funds to benefit The V Foundation for cancer research. The event coincided with the committee’s monthly Casual for a Cause Day, where associates donate money to a local charity and, in exchange, get to come to work in casual attire. For two years now, the March Casual for a Cause Day has benefited The V Foundation.

As a tie-in to the foundation’s roots and to the popular March Madness college basketball tournament, the Philanthropic Committee brought in a free-throw machine and invited associates to donate money to challenge members of the executive team to a friendly hoop-shooting competition.

This event helped raise more than $2,400 for The V Foundation.

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Friendly Center

The Friendly Center, a family and community resource center located in Orange, California was recently honored in 2007 by the California Family Resource Association (CFRA) as one of the top four family resource centers with mental health services in the State of California. Friendly Center provides over 25 free programs and services for low income families.
www.friendlycenter.org

Ingram Micro's community relations team responded to the needs of the Friendly Center by providing upgraded hardware and software for a computer room that is used 6 days a week for a variety of community services such as basic computer courses for all ages including children and the elderly, online tax processing for low-income families (EITC program), homework word processing and research for students. By providing flat screen monitors to the center, Ingram Micro enabled the Friendly Center staff to make better use of their already limited space in the facility.

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Hands Together

Hands Together provides early childhood development services to families who fall below the federal poverty level, are unemployed or underemployed and who typically live in apartment complexes where multiple families share a single unit.
www.handstogether-sa.org

Ingram Micro created a children’s computer center and library by donating 10 computer work stations with flat-panel monitors and colorful equipment geared towards children, including age-appropriate children’s software, appropriate-sized keyboards, mice, desks and chairs. The room was furnished with book shelves and fun décor, freshly painted and carpeted during the renovation. The new center gives the children at Hands Together an opportunity to learn computer basics through new equipment and children’s software programs. Ingram Micro also renovated a separate office space to accommodate two computer work stations for teachers and parents.

The room, which is named the Ingram Micro Children’s Computer Center and Library, will be used as a computer lab and library by more than 75 Hands Together students. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Ingram Micro’s Corporate Vice President of Strategy and Communications Ria Carlson presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 26, 2007.

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Discovery Science Center

The Discovery Science Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating young minds, assisting teachers and increasing public understanding of science, math and technology through interactive exhibits and programs.
www.discoverycube.org

On October 7, 2006, the Discovery Science Center honored Ingram Micro at its annual gala event, Quest 2006, in recognition of the company's contributions to the center over the past few years. For the Dino Quest exhibit, Ingram Micro donated and helped coordinate contributions from many technology companies together to help make it happen. Ingram Micro worked with IBM, NEC Display Solutions, Microsoft and CTX to donate touch screens, monitors, network servers and other essential hardware to Dino Quest, the world's first interactive dinosaur adventure. Ingram Micro's president and COO Kevin Murai and senior vice president of sales and vendor management for North America Brian Wiser were instrumental in the company's contributions to Discovery Science Center's Digital Lab and Dino Quest.

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Orange County High School of Arts (OCHSA)

OCHSA provides a creative, challenging, and nurturing environment that offers bright talented students unparalleled preparations for higher education and a profession in the arts.
www.ocsarts.net

Ingram Micro donated furniture and computers for 30 work stations including space planning services and select software packages that cater to the specific needs of arts students. Additionally, the company helped the school with the installation of the work stations. The center, which is named as the Ingram Micro Media Resource Center, will be used both as a classroom and a computer lab by more than 1,300 OCHSA students each year. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido and Ingram Micro's president and Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Murai, presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony.

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WISEPlace

WISEPlace provides transitional housing, and an array of support services including financial literacy, employment assistance, case management, food and counseling services to homeless women ages 18 to senior adults.
www.wiseplace.org

The Ingram Micro community relations team worked for more than three months to plan, coordinate and implement a renovation project at the 55-year-old WISEPlace building located in downtown Santa Ana. Ingram Micro donated and installed new carpeting, light fixtures, closet shelves and doors, furniture, work stations, computer hardware and inspirational decor. Ingram Micro senior executives Gregory Spierkel, Bill Humes and Kevin Murai contributed directly to this project by painting the walls of the employment center. Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido's wife, Laura Saari-Pulido, presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony.

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