BICSI Donates $25,000 to Children’s Burn Foundation of Florida
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ — On Jan. 26, BICSI Cares, the charity arm of BICSI, donated over $25,000 to the Children’s Burn Foundation, Inc. (CBF) of Florida, nearly doubling the Foundation’s yearly budget. The $25,039 check was presented to the CBF on the last day of the 2006 BICSI Winter Conference in Orlando, Fla.
BICSI Cares, Inc. collects donations at each BICSI conference and gives 100 percent of the contributions to a local children’s charity. “This incredible gift almost doubled the size of our small foundation, which relies completely on donations and volunteer support,” said Deborah Karst, CBF vice president. “BICSI Cares is an incredible philanthropic organization. Their generous gift will have a long and lasting positive impact in the lives of burn survivors.”
According to BICSI Cares Committee chair, John Discenza of General Cable, the charity selected to receive contributions from BICSI Cares must be focused on children only, have minimal administration costs, and work with a small budget, with no corporate sponsorship or support. “Choosing the charity is the most difficult part, because choosing one means excluding others,” said Discenza.
CBF is a nonprofit organization in Orlando, Fla., dedicated to addressing the needs of children who have suffered severe burn injuries. The CBF provides special programs and services that focus on assisting children and their families in rehabilitation, social adjustment and motivation to facilitate the mainstreaming back into society as productive people.
“The generosity of our membership is truly amazing,” said Discenza. “The spirit of giving has become a part of BICSI culture, and many members make their contributions immediately after registering. Since its inception, BICSI Cares has raised over $1,000,000 for various charities. We have not helped all the kids who need it, nor will we ever be able to help them all. That, however, must not stop us from helping those who we can help.”
BICSI Cares began when, on a lark, BICSI member Ray Gendron passed a hat down a row of seats at a BICSI Conference. It came back to him filled with money. Since there was no way of knowing who gave what, he decided to give the money to charity and a tradition was born. “The telecommunications industry has served us well,” said Ray Gendron, retired chair of the BICSI Cares Committee. “The objective of BICSI Cares, Inc. is to be good corporate citizens and give something back to those less fortunate.”
BICSI thanks Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center and Anixter for sponsoring door prizes at the BICSI Cares Presentation and Drawing event.
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BICSI is a professional association supporting the information transport systems industry with information, education and knowledge assessment for individuals and companies. Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., BICSI serves more than 25,000 industry professionals in more than 90 countries around the world. For more information, visit http://www.bicsi.org.
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