| Rockwell uses unpaid time off for Habitat for Humanity |
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| Thursday, 01 October 2009 | ||
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Staff writer The news was bad – a six-day furlough. For the Rockwell Automation team, it was a chance to do something positive and give back to the community.
The Rockwell team was joined by employees of two of its distributors, Werner Electric, Cottage Grove, and United Electric of New Brighton. There was about 150 people total working about 170 man hours from Sept. 14 - 25, said Jim Boschuetz, Rockwell industrial components business manager. While everyone feels bad about the state of the economy, “working on this project was a way to make something good out of a challenging situation,” he said. In the past the Rockwell group has donated to families during the holidays and supported military families. This is the first time the employees have done something this involved, Boschuetz said. It has been a full week adventure working on the eight-plex housing unit where volunteers were able to meet and get to know the soon-to-be homeowners, who are required to work to build their own home, he said. For the Rockwell employees and the family and friends that volunteered with them, the experience gave them a chance to get to know each other better and learn something new. As engineers, “we are always interested in learning new stuff,” Boschuetz said. “It was a way to use our creative energy to give back,” he said. “It’s good to give back, do something positive,” said Tim LaFleur, Rockwell sales manager. It’s also a good way to send a message to others that something positive can come from negative, like a furlough, Boschuetz said. The experience also led to an unexpected lesson on diversity and respecting each other’s differences. One of the Rockwell employees had been working closely with Basra Jibril, a soon-to-be homeowner. As all the workers walked out to lunch wagon to lunch, Jibril did not get lunch because he was fasting for Ramadan. The employee, who is of Jewish descent, joined the Ethopian-born Muslim in his fast. This employee sacrificed so that Jibril was not alone, Boschuetz said. “It’s been rock ‘n’ roll” working with Rockwell, said Jibril, who currently lives in a one-bedroom Brooklyn Park apartment with his wife and three children. In the past, Rockwell employee Natalie Nett volunteered with seniors and animals, so working on a Habitat of Humanity house was different. “I hear a lot about it from other people,” she said. In addition to learning to paint trim, Nett is learning about Habitat of Humanity and what it requires from its homeowners. “It’s pretty neat to learn about the organization, the new owners and how they are selected,” said Nett. Nett’s friend Alicia Heglson, a realtor from Blaine, joined the Rockwell team. This was her first time with Habitat for Humanity and “it’s touching working with person who is going to own the house,” Heglson said. It’s a good working experience and a great opportunity to met other people, she said. Although Terri “Kiki” Suzymczak works out of Rockwell’s Chicago office, she took the day off to work on the Ramsey project. “It’s a lot of fun. This is way more rewarding and it’s going toward the community. It’s more fun than household chores,” Suzymczak said. While Suzymczak is learning to paint properly, she is also doing something good for the community, she said. “I thinks it’s a great program,” Suzymczak said. Suzymczak was so excited by the project she invited a number of friends to join them. College friend Sean Conley accepted the invitation. He has worked on a number of Habitat for Humanity homes, but none of them at this finished state, Conley said as he painted primer on the bathroom walls. This is a project anyone can work on, Boschuetz said. While no one likes the economy being as soft as it is, the time spent working on the Habitat for Humanity house was a positive way to give back to the community they work in, he said. The Rockwell team also got support from Famous Dave’s, Jimmy Johns and Subway. They fed all of the volunteers and Subway donated Twins tickets for Rockwell to raffle off to the volunteers, Boschuetz said. “The tickets helped us fill the remaining volunteer slots,” he said. Although the summer work camps are winding down, site manager Terra Lumley said mini-one day crews are needed through January. For more information on volunteering, call 612-331-4030, extension 7114 or check out the Web site www.tchabitat.org . Tammy Sakry is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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