4/24/08

Guest Editorial:

Boeing employees' gifts reach many  

As a community, it is good to take time to celebrate milestones.  It is also good to thank those who make this a better place to live, work and raise our families.

It is our honor to do both by drawing your collective attention to a major accomplishment of the Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound, the charity arm of Boeing employees, which has just surpassed the  $500,000,000  mark in charitable giving.

That’s right.  Half a billion dollars.

Boeing employees and retirees, through their Community Fund, have given half a billion dollars to nonprofits in the Puget Sound since the Fund’s inception in 1951.

It’s a little busy around The Boeing Company right now. This milestone could pass without the full recognition it is due, and that would be a shame for many reasons.

Yes, it’s a lot of money.  Yes, we owe those who give to the Employees Community Fund a debt of gratitude. Beyond that, however, is the greater truth: Boeing employees are the community – not a group apart, but an integral part, just as we all are.

We all have a responsibility and a role in making this a better community, not only for those who struggle, but also because it benefits us.  When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all.  Boeing employees demonstrate that they understand the strength of working – and giving – together for the common good by pooling their contributions to Employees Community Fund.  This is an extraordinarily powerful way to impact our communities, our neighbors, our families and friends, and our own lives.

Much of the giving to the Employees Community Fund has gone out to the community through local United Ways.  The Employees Community Fund gives grants for capital needs and new programs.  United Ways fund services that people rely on, day in and day out, and focus on finding long-term solutions to our communities’ most urgent problems.  It’s a balanced partnership that cares for the whole community while allowing the partners to focus on their primary mission.  After all, there are airplanes to be built.

Boeing employees also give in other ways. Many are active volunteers, lending their voices and knowledge on committees and boards, and their time and muscle to building wheelchair ramps, mentoring youth, coaching teams or serving a meal.

Both ways of giving back underscore a philosophy that measures the true quality of a company and its people not only by the integrity of its products and services, but also by the strength of its partnership with the larger community.

Through good and challenging times, this partnership has held fast. So, not only on behalf of United Way, but on behalf of all who have benefited, it is our pleasure and privilege to say “thank you.”

In the end, half a billion dollars is just a number. The true value lies in the countless lives Boeing employees and retirees have changed as a result of their generous giving to the community through the Employees Community Fund.  

Rick Allen

President, United Way of Pierce County

Jon Fine

President & CEO, United Way of King County

Carl J. Zapora

President & CEO, United Way of Snohomish County

Erica Hallock

President & CEO, United Ways of Washington