Just like one of their own high-powered hydraulic pumps, Eaton Aerospace took off full speed in partnership with Orange County United Way to address some of the most critical needs of Orange County residents.

In alignment with Eaton’s own company values, this year’s corporate social responsibility campaign focused on United Way’s work to generate healthy outcomes and improve educational opportunities for Orange County children and their families, and our United to End Homelessness initiative.

Let’s take a look at some highlights from Eaton’s 2018 partnership with United Way.

On August 28, a group of seven team members from Eaton’s Finance Department left their spreadsheets behind and volunteered at one of our housing partners who provides shelter for local homeless men, women an pets. The shelter’s primary focus, in alignment with the United to End Homelessness mission, is helping clients to create a long-term housing plan and connecting them with housing resources to end their homelessness as soon as possible.

Half of the Eaton volunteer team organized a cluttered donation room, and as true accountants, left the room clean and arranged by sizes with appropriately labeled boxes.

The other Eaton group helped in assembling and distributing lunch bags for the clients of the day.

Eaton’s engagement and desire to give back didn’t stop there.

In support of United Way’s campaign to help with the county’s bi-annual Point in Time count, Eaton employees ran a hygiene drive and collected materials, including socks, beanies, chapstick, hand sanitizer and more, to compile nearly 100 essential Hygiene Kits for Orange County’s homeless. These kits will be distributed directly to people experiencing homelessness during the Point in Time count and play a large role in helping restore a sense of dignity for these individuals.

In alignment with Eaton’s key organizational value of improving the educational opportunities for OC youth, 13 Eaton volunteers joined United Way on October 25 for the National Read for the Record event. Along with millions of volunteers across the country, the Eaton volunteers read Maybe Something Beautiful to a captive audience of young learners at Wilson Elementary in Santa Ana. This national volunteer day supports United Way’s Read Aloud campaign to make reading engaging and help all children reach their full reading potential.

Just last month, with the holiday season kicking into high gear, Eaton ran a food drive to help families in need have a full and colorful table to celebrate. The day after their employee food drive came to a close, Eaton’s CEO Nanda Kumar Cheruvatath, his wife, Dula, and several other Eaton leaders, joined 20 other volunteers at one of our Healthy Food Provision partners to help sort and bag carrots for families facing food insecurity throughout Orange County.

But wait, there’s more.

Last week, in support of United Way’s Healthy Schools Initiative, Eaton donated $5,000 to provide a hydration station for Violette Elementary in Garden Grove. On December 7, Eaton staff and volunteers unveiled the new station, giving students access to great tasting, purified, temperature-regulated water as a healthy alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages. The unveiling came at the culmination of a weeklong program that educated students about making healthy drink choices.

All students were gifted a water bottle to make it easy for them to utilize the new hydration station and increase their daily water consumption.

Eaton’s commitment to creating a better Orange County is inspiring. Another volunteer day is on the calendar for December 18 when a group of Eaton volunteers, including CEO Cheruvatath, Patricia Correa, Vice President of Human Resources, Abby Lilly, Vice President of Supply Chain, David Baily, Vice President of Technology, and others will return to a local homeless shelter to assist with its immediate needs.

Partnerships – like this one with Eaton – are vital to ensuring everyone in our community has access to a quality education, a sustainable income, better health and stable housing—the building blocks for a good life.

Conclusion

Orange County United Way is committed to building a better future for every Orange County resident. With the help of generous and committed corporate partners like Eaton, we are able to address critical needs and provide long-term solutions. Are you ready to do more to create a stronger Orange County?

Orange County United Way is Solving Problems in the Community

United Way fights for the education, health, housing and financial stability of every person in Orange County. We are doing more than raising funds, we are transforming our community. If you are looking for ways to help, learn how to get involved or sign up for our monthly newsletter.