Community & Employee Relations

Community Relations - Local Volunteer Stories

Here are just a few examples of the many ways BARD employees are making a difference in the global community.

Helping Haiti

On January 12, the nation of Haiti was devastated by a series of massive earthquakes and aftershocks that destroyed the capitol city of Port-au-Prince and surrounding towns.  At least 200,000 were killed, and millions more were injured or displaced. 

Consistent with Bard's mission to provide service to the worldwide community, the C. R. Bard Foundation committed a total of $100,000 in grants to the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Direct Relief International and Project HOPE to support the immediate needs and long-term recovery efforts of the Haitian people. Bard also contributed over $200,000 in medical products—including Foley trays and latex strips—to AmeriCares, Direct Relief and Project HOPE. 

“The suprapubic catheters and Heyman dilators donated by Bard were of immense value and used immediately upon our arrival, and are continuing to be used in the north of Haiti. It is a great resource where none—and I mean none—existed previously,” said Samuel B. Broaddus, MD, Director of the Division of Urology at Maine Medical Center and the surgical team leader for Konbit Sante, a medical non-profit organization involved in long-term medical care delivery in the community of Cap Haitien. “The entire urology service and the patients and their families were grateful beyond words.”

The Bard Foundation also matched dollar-for-dollar all U.S. employee donations to the 501(c)(3) organizations of their choice for Haiti relief efforts, and employees at every location took advantage of this program to lend their support to the relief efforts.

“It is staggering for me to consider the sheer magnitude of loss that has occurred there,” said Ralph Racine, Market Research Analyst, Bard Peripheral Vascular. “As a child, I spent a few summers with my grandparents at their home near Port-Au-Prince.  My wife is also from Haiti, though she grew up in Connecticut.  Needless to say, this event has affected me and my family quite personally.” Ralph and his colleagues at BPV in Tempe, AZ, organized a bake sale to raise money for relief efforts. In addition, for a $10 donation to the cause, employees earned the right to wear jeans to work one day. Including the corporate match, the division raised over $4,800 for Project Hope.  

At the Corporate Office n Murray Hill, NJ, employees held a Denim Day to raise money for Oasis for Children, an orphanage in Haiti founded by Luceanna Moore—a native of Haiti and the wife of Bard employee Kerlis Moore. The event raised $6,290, which was matched by the Bard Foundation for a total of $12,580.

Bard Puerto Rico supported relief efforts by shipping 9,960 10-milliliter ampoules of Lidocaine and 18,000 gauze pads to Haiti—a donation worth over $50,000. In addition, employees collected $1,395 and supplemented their donation by shipping bottled water, canned food, first aid supplies and clothing to Haiti.

In Salt Lake City, UT, Bard Access Systems employees raised $1,200 at a Mardi Gras-themed cook-off, held a blood drive, raised $1,337 from selling dress-down stickers and established an online account for BAS employees to make donations with a credit card, all for the benefit of the Haitian relief efforts of the American Red Cross. Factoring in the match, the total exceeded $8,500. 

Forty-three Bard Medical employees from the Covington, GA office spent a few hours at Medshare packaging medical products to be sent to Haiti for earthquake victims.  The locally-based nonprofit organization specializes in the efficient recovery and redistribution of surplus medical supplies and equipment to underserved healthcare facilities in developing countries. 

Leading the Charge Against Hunger in Reynosa

The worldwide economic downturn has been particularly challenging in Nogales, a city of approximately 200,000 people on Mexico’s border with the U.S. state of Arizona. Manufacturers idled their production lines, leading to layoffs. Local businesses suffered, drug-related violence increased and tourism plummeted. It is estimated that 2,800 families currently live in extreme poverty.

Nogales is also home to Bard’s largest manufacturing facility, employing more people—almost 2,000—than any other site in the organization. Recognizing their good fortune during difficult times, the local Charity Projects team decided to capitalize on the Bard Takes a Bite Out of Hunger campaign, reaching out to local social service clubs, supermarkets, non-profit organizations and universities to partner in the effort.

In July, 27 organizations decided to follow Bard’s lead and made a commitment to gather food and supplies for the local food bank, Banco Alimentos de Nogales, by September 24. While the organizations were united by a common purpose, they each pursued the goal of fighting hunger in their own way. Bard, for example, targeted employees with the “King of Food Cans” contest.

Betty Silvas and 2009 Charles Russell Bard Award winner Ulises Rosas were elected King and Queen of Food Cans in a tightly-contested race. Most importantly, the 11 candidates each got more of their colleagues involved. “The candidates really made a difference,” said Anabel Torres, HR General Supervisor and Community Service Project Coordinator. “They gathered 290 whole food baskets with a total of 6,769 items. We collected a lot of food thanks to employee involvement.”

By the September 24 target, Bard and the other businesses involved in the initiative had collected 1,350 food baskets and devoted over 6,700 man-hours to the project, earning coverage in local newspapers Nuevo Dia and El Diario de Sonora. It was the first time in Nogales that all social service clubs were involved in a joint effort to fight hunger, and all parties pledged to renew the commitment to fight hunger in the local community in 2010.

The Certificate of Appreciation presented to Bard by Banco Alimentos de Nogales says it best: “We are thankful you allowed us to see what can be achieved by teamwork.”