Over the course of 2019, Elara Engineering volunteers participated in several philanthropic activities to support a variety of organizations and events. By providing paid time-off to employees and matching individual monetary donations, Elara’s philanthropic program actively supports three key endeavors: to put others’ needs in front of our own, to provide opportunities to give
back to our communities, and to build relationships with co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family.
Feed My Starving Children. On Tuesday, February 26th, Elara volunteers stepped up to pack meals at Feed My Starving Children’s (FMSC) Schaumburg, Illinois facility. The group helped produce 28,728 food packs which were packaged in 133 boxes for distribution to Djibouti, Africa; enough to feed 78 children for a year.
FMSC’s mission is accomplished through a simple process. Donations are provided to fund meal ingredients, volunteers hand-pack the meals, and meals are then donated to FMSC food partners for distribution around the world.
Urban Roots Teen Docent Program. 
For the Garfield Park Conservatory’s Urban Roots Teen Docent Program, Elara volunteers sweated it out on a hot Friday afternoon in June to prepare garden plots for use by program participants from nearby Al Raby High School. Elara’s hard work included; weeding, amending soil, constructing compost bins, removing chicken wire, and other tasks.
The Urban Roots Teen Docent Program enables participating students the opportunity to grow and maintain their own gardens, lead visitors on tours, and engage in STEM lessons and labs related to plant biology and sustainability.
Camp Quality. Responding to a last-minute need to help out at a no-cost summer camp for children ages 4 to 17 with a current or past cancer diagnosis, Elara volunteers rose to the occasion to run the camp’s ice cream tent for one of the open time slots. On the evening of Thursday, August 8th, volunteers passed out ice cream, made milk shakes and sundaes, and encouraged kids to have a great week. 
Mutt Strut. On another sunny day on Saturday, September 7th, Elara volunteers participated in the Animal Care League’s annual Mutt Strut 5K Walk/Run held in Oak Park’s Maple Park to benefit homeless animals. In addition to the 5K run and walk, the event included dog massages, pet contests, music, and food. Elara’s participants either ran the 5K or helped cheer on participants on the racecourse. In the end, over $10,600 was raised to directly support animals in need.
Operation Christmas Child. Coming up on Wednesday, November 20th, for the second consecutive year, Elara volunteers will prepare and pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child to provide children from around the world with gifts during the holiday season. The event is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse International Relief, an organization that helps meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine. As part of the effort, Elara volunteers form teams to coordinate, buy, and collect gifts based on Operation Christmas Child’s guidelines and then pack their gifts for shipment. In 2018, Elara volunteers sent 46 boxes to children for the holiday season.
Additional information about the above organizations and programs can be found at the following links:
- Feed My Starving Children: fmsc.org
- Garfield Park Conservatory Urban Roots Teen Docent Program: garfieldconservatory.org/about-us/urban-roots
- Camp Quality: campqualityusa.org/il
- Animal Care League: animalcareleague.org
- Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child: samaritanspurse.org
