W&A Engineering is pleased to announce our 2021 Charity of Choice Partners! Beginning in 2018, it has become a company tradition to select local nonprofit partners each year to provide charitable donations and in-kind services in lieu of corporate gifts to our clients.
Within our corporate headquarters, the Athens staff has selected Books for Keeps, whose mission is to work to improve children’s reading achievement by addressing barriers related to the accessibility and appeal of reading material. Books for Keeps give books to children whose reading opportunities outside of school might be otherwise limited due to geography, income, or other factors. Since 2009, Books for Keeps has given 570,000 books to children from low-income families. They currently serve the Athens, Atlanta, Elberton, and Warrenton, Georgia communities. Every spring, staff, and more than 600 community-based volunteers set up a free book fair and invite students to pick 12 age-appropriate books to keep and treasure forever.
Delightedly, W&A’s Nashville staff voted to continue to support Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee for yet another year! Make-A-Wish Middle Tennessee grants the wishes of children ages 2½ to 17 with life-threatening medical conditions. Since its founding in 2000, the chapter has granted more than 1,300 wishes. Make-A-Wish relies on more than 200 Middle Tennessee volunteers to be “wish granters,” trained to help make wishes come true.
Lastly, our Monroe staff were excited for the opportunity to support the Monroe Area High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) Chapter. FFA was founded by a group of young farmers in 1928. Their mission was to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing population. They taught us that agriculture is more than planting and harvesting – it’s a science, it’s a business and it’s an art. FFA has since become a national organization dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.
As part of W&A’s commitment to these partners, each will receive a monetary donation and a year-long volunteer partnership to ensure meaningful and sustainable support throughout the year. W&A would like to especially thank all of our clients and community partners for being a part of our journey over the past year. Without their support, these donations could not be possible. W&A strives to live by our mission to build better communities each day, and we look forward to continuing this work with full dedication to our clients and the communities we serve going into this new year.