After opening the doors to our recently-built manufacturing plant in Norwalk, IA, we set out to integrate ourselves into the community and to find meaningful ways for our team members to give back.
Windsor employees began volunteering for a reading program in the local elementary school in the fall of 2018. The Everybody Wins! Iowa program provides elementary students a safe, low-pressure environment to practice their reading skills outside of the classroom. As part of the program, 10 Windsor employees volunteer to read to the students over their lunch period. The 10 volunteers work in pairs with each volunteer reading to their student every other Wednesday. Each pair is assigned to work with the same child for the entire school year. This allows the volunteers to familiarize themselves with the student and learn more about their personalities, capabilities and interests.
In the past month, Windsor team members also held a book drive for the children who participate in the Everybody Wins! Iowa reading program. Children participating in the program from Orchard Hills Elementary in Norwalk and Willard Elementary in Des Moines submitted book titles they would like to read or a subject matter they would be interested in learning. Windsor employees then purchased these books and surprised each child by gifting them a book with the goal of encouraging them to read at home.
Everybody Wins! Iowa is dedicated to increasing children’s success in school through reading and mentoring experiences with caring volunteers. To learn more about Everybody Wins! Iowa and their program opportunities, visit https://everybodywinsiowa.org/.