Giving the Gift of Knowledge

The OPC team is all about showing up for their customers – but they also make time to show up for their community. They even have an Acts of Kindness committee that finds worthy causes that others may not focus on or even know about and they like to help them out – no matter how big or small the ask is. Recently, they set their sights on a local middle school and the needs of a teacher and her students.

Ms. Sarah Fischer at Oyler Middle school teaches students grades 6-8 with autism. We all know you have to be a special person to be a teacher at all, but special needs teachers are on another level of sainthood! Every day, Ms. Fischer makes a heroic impact on her students. That’s something the team at OPC can appreciate – because it’s one of their main principles to live by. So, already the team’s interest was peaked!

Autistic kids, especially the age group she works with, need a place they can go when they get overwhelmed. So, to give her students a calm place to sit and read, Ms. Fischer wanted to build a cozy reading corner. With school budgets normally tight (and being even tighter right now), she was looking at purchasing the items she needed for that reading area herself. Instead, the OPC Acts of Kindness team came together and decided to deliver a moment that Ms. Fischer would remember forever.

The team purchased some of the books on her list, as well as many other sensory toys for her students with autism to use to help them get through the day. Ms. Fischer and Melissa Bonavita-Jones, Branch Admin Specialist for OPC, had spoken a few times to not only coordinate on what the buy, but for the best time to drop the items off. Ms. Fischer thought the best time would be during the actual school day so the OPC team could meet the students they were helping.

The committee including Chad Dotson, Branch Manager, Alex Kinney, Residential Sales Representative, Mark Ward, Technician, David Parmley, Technician, and Melissa came together to drop off all the items the OPC team purchased for Ms. Fischer and her students. Melissa said, “We beyond enjoyed getting to meet Ms. Fischer, and the students. They were so excited to meet us and start reading and using the toys.” It was fulfilling to see the students immediately pick up and start using the toys and reading the books. It reminded the team that their strength is in their unity, their partnerships, their teammates, and their community. When people come together to support and help each other, the world is truly a better place. The Acts of Kindness committee’s mission is to remind people of that – but it’s nice when someone else reminds them, too.

Great job to all involved. We can’t wait to hear what they do next.