The St. John’s County Education Foundation named the factory “business partner of the year”. The foundation will present the nomination at a ceremony on June 9th.

- Our work with the Advanced Reading Café and the continued support of Material for School (Tools for Schools) were determining factors and we should all be very proud of our team for this achievement, says Carrie Gainor, who coordinates many of the engagement projects with the factory's initiative community.

The employees volunteer for the Advanced Reading Café at a local elementary school. Students agree to read a number of books per month; the monthly cafe meeting includes food, bingo, face painting and other recreational activities for children.

Material para a Escola is an initiative organized by the local school district to collect school supplies of great need, such as notebooks, pencils, lunch boxes, antibacterial spray and dozens of other materials.

- We had a competition between the departments and everything was even cooler, says Gainor about the Material for School initiative.

St. Augustine employees are involved in several other community initiatives, such as:

• Casual Friday: employees can “relax” and make cash donations for a good cause;
• Food Drive Initiative: Canned and other edibles are collected for those in need;
• Blood Donation Initiative (Blood Drive): The mobile blood donation unit visits the factory three times a year;
• Earthquake in Haiti: Funds are raised for those affected by the earthquake.

- It's about giving back to the community, especially children, who are our most precious resources, says Gainor.