Why do you feel it’s important for your business to support our area’s nonprofits?
When Gunn-Mowery was in its formative years, a lot of people and businesses stepped up to support and do business with us. That support meant the world to us, and we want to give back in a way that supports the communities we are active in. We walk hand-in-hand with our clients and partners to give of our time, talent and money to help advance the needs of our communities. One of the key ways we define our success is giving back to our communities in a significant way. While we can’t always give as much as we would like to, we do what we can to help those in need. It’s our “why” and why we do what we do everyday.
Why do you support this particular nonprofit and what does your business do to benefit the organization? (Answered by G. Greg Gunn)
My wife, Val, and I had a very close friend, Robin Scaer, who passed away in 2020. Robin was the Executive Director of the YMCA of Carlisle and was passionate about the services provided by its Rape Crisis Center. Robin often expressed her concern that funding to the Rape Crisis Center had severely decreased. It touched her deeply. When Robin passed away, we reached out to her friends and talked to her husband Bob about how best to honor her. With Bob’s blessing, we gathered a committee and created Robin’s Way to sustain critical funding for the Rape Crisis Center. Thankfully, we had a caring committee of friends and family working with us to make this happen, including Jewel Cooper, Anthony and Carolyn Worrall, Diane Tokarsky and many others. To keep administrative expenses to a minimum, Robin’s Way is administered by the YWCA of Carlisle and our good friend, Maddie Young. Maddie and Robin were friends, so Maddie also takes this effort as personally as Val and I do. All of us were fortunate to have Robin in our lives, and she inspired us to make a lasting difference in our community. Robin’s Way is our way of continuing to honor the extraordinary spirit of Robin Scaer and, especially, her passion to lift up others in need.
Describe your organization and the importance of corporate support to further your mission.
The YWCA Carlisle & Cumberland County’s mission is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Our services include programs devoted to youth empowerment, social justice and racial equity; a full functioning preschool; and sexual assault awareness and advocacy through Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis Services of Cumberland County (SARCs). The Robin’s Way memorial fund was created in honor of our late executive director, Robin Scaer, and goes directly to supporting the quality and efficacy of SARCs. Robin championed the services and programs of the YWCA and was especially dedicated to SARCs. Caring and providing compassion for those in crisis is work that is never done, and corporate and foundation funding allows us to continue to offer a variety of services through SARCs, including prevention education; empowerment counseling for adults; body safety counseling for children; survivor support groups; individual advocacy; in-person accompaniments to hospitals, court and police settings; and a 24-hour hotline for anyone in crisis. Last year, we were able to serve 7,183 people across all our programming because of corporations dedicating money specifically to racial equity programs, our Empower & Equip and After the Bell Youth programs, and to Robin’s Way.
For 2022, what is your greatest need?
This year, our greatest need for corporate and foundation support is for our youth programs and support groups dedicated to people who have been victimized. Funding in these areas will help us continue to strengthen our current programs, while giving us the resources we need to expand our offerings to even more people in need. For example, we are developing a new program, STEAM Queens, for female-identifying high-schoolers interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM). Girls and women are systematically tracked away from science and math throughout their education, limiting their access, preparation and opportunities to go into these fields as adults. Our program aims to fight this trend by guiding students in building confidence as they explore and contribute to a male-dominated field by learning and experimenting alongside women working in STEAM. For our support groups, our goal for 2022 is to expand the Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis services that Cumberland County provides by building programming dedicated to human trafficking awareness and prevention, an area we have seen a great need in, but previously have not had the resources to aid. It is through the generous donations of corporations and foundations that we will be able to continue developing in these two areas and work to provide further support to all who have been marginalized within our community.
Sponsored Content
Proudly Sponsored by
