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To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (42278)	12/19/2008 7:23:47 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95609

A nice note to add to the Christmas season from the employees of Applied Materials. <<In another sign of seasonal uplift, Applied Materials said in a press release today that its "North American employees have raised more than $480,000 for local food banks in the past two months through a variety of fundraising activities, exceeding the company’s 2008 fundraising goal. The Applied Materials Foundation will match the employee giving amount, so that the total contribution to food banks throughout North America will be $1 million, which will provide more than 2 million meals for those in need." "This year employees pulled out all the stops to increase overall giving in the face of these tough economic times," stated Mark Walker, the company's managing director of community affairs. "In addition to a significant online program, we had employees paying to throw cream pies at their managers, holding auctions in their homes, canned food sculpture contests, solar car races, bake sales, and dozens of other events designed to convince coworkers to donate a little bit more for a great cause." The pie tossed in the boss's face followed by a not-so-quick getaway in a solar car sounds quite fun, but I wonder if Mike Splinter took a full-frontal Boston Cream for the cause. A beneficiary of the program, Keith Flagler, interim CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, said in the PR that "many companies are generous in their giving to our program, but Applied Materials has been a company we've been able to count on for decades. "They are one of the most consistent and creative in their approach and their employees never cease to amaze us with new ideas for raising funds. The donations of both money and food they provide help all year long and are an important part of our annual fundraising efforts." Nice to see those who pay such close attention to their bottom lines also pay something forward to those trying to survive in society's bottom rungs.>> pv-tech.org