It was somewhere walking alongside County Road 119, in rural Colorado, that something clicked for young Justin Huffaker.
For their Eagle Scout project, he and others walked the roadsides and nearby trails collecting pounds and pounds of aluminum cans to recycle. With that money and other funds raised, the Scouts would later plant trees and put in new playground equipment at a local Colorado park.
“It was just a tangible feeling of doing something productive and beneficial,” Huffaker, the Vice President of Strategic Technology at Datamax, said. “Instead of talking about litter, instead of talking about pollution or the need to plant more trees, we did something about it.”
It’s that same spirit that permeates DatamaxCares, the community-focused group within the Datamax organization. Utilizing a two-pronged approach of fundraising and volunteerism throughout every calendar year, DatamaxCares provides a way for people to get involved with Datamax, get involved with the community and be a part of something bigger.
“This is something literally anyone in the company can get involved with,” Huffaker said. “We’ve served meals at homeless shelters. We’ve gone out and purchased items for halfway houses for kids in transition. We’ve worked at summer camps and served food to veterans…Not only do you get positive energy from people receiving something. There’s a lot of positive energy from employees and their families who are there volunteering.”
A Proactive Mindset
DatamaxCares was started in 2012 amid a round-table discussion led by Datamax Texas President David Rhodes, who was seeking ways to get out and serve in the communities that Datamax served. He wanted to actively pursue community projects.
Additionally, he wanted to find ways to create teamwork and internal engagement within the organization. Having employees of all levels working together could create synergy and teamwork, he reasoned.
“It’s easy to write a check, but to actually go on site and and participate with charities is I believe a bigger impact,” Rhodes said. "For us, to actually develop a program where we’re proactively seeking out non profit charities and giving, I think it has a different meaning. I think it means we care a little more."
Huffaker took on the role of spearheading DatamaxCares and planning projects well in advance to optimize internal engagement.
"I kind of teed it up on a tee, and he swung at it and hit it out of the park," Rhodes said.
DatamaxCares today alternates between fundraising events within the organization – like the recent March Madness Challenge, as well as an annual Fantasy Football League – and using those funds to both volunteer for and contribute financially to organizations in Texas and Arkansas. Every year, DatamaxCares gives back by picking a specific group in need around Christmas time and donates funds, volunteers time in every applicable marketplace.
While the dozens of nonprofits Datamax has partnered with has varied, the general aim is to find groups that often fly under the radar.
“Often, we want to contribute to charities that can’t do things for themselves,” said Datamax Inc. President Barry Simon, who has served on the board for many of the organizations Datamax has served. “Many of the nonprofits are in need of leadership, they are looking for some advice on how to make them a better organization.”
High Energy at Camp Summit
Huffaker recalls the very first official DatamaxCares event at Camp Summit in the Dallas Metroplex. The camp for children with significant disabilities provided a typical summer camp experience for those who couldn’t usually enjoy such a thing – everything from swimming, agility courses and bunk beds. What the camp needed was help preparing the facility for the upcoming summer season. Datamax sent out 25 of its employees, all clad in bright Green DatamaxCares T-shirts.
Many employees even brought their children to help.
"It was great seeing employees elbow to elbow working within all levels of our company, from president to entry level service technician or newly hired admin. The team building was just amazing," Rhodes said.
Huffaker says the group wound up raking leaves, painting cottages, cleaning the kitchen, and dragging away brush. The work that weekend created a real impact for Camp Summit. But it also created synergy for the Datamax organization moving forward.
“There was a really high level of positive energy from that first event,” Huffaker said.
The looks on people’s faces that day, how great they felt about it and the realization that their impact would be felt: It provided that same tangible feeling of not only detecting a need, but standing up and doing something about it.
“I just think about how generous our team at Datamax is here,” Huffaker said. “People really do get out and give it up for these organizations.”
