Be Excellent to Each Other: Our Customers, Our Employees, Our Families, Our Communities, Ourselves
In 2008, Advantage RN's Mission Statement expanded to include COMMUNITY as another entity the company would like to be excellent to. It was logical addition.
Since our inception in 2003, Advantage RN has experienced tremendous growth despite keen competition and an industry of marginal expansion. We’ve made it through Joint Commission certification and recertification, the juggling that comes with acquisitions and restructuring, and the challenges of our “new” economy. Despite the uphill battles and monumental moments, we’ve kept our eye on our Mission, and giving back will continue to be a critical component.
The following information highlights the COMMUNITY organizations Advantage RN has made financial contributions to since 2008:
Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a neuro-genetic disorder that occurs in 1 in 15,000 live births. Its characteristics often include developmental delay, lack of speech, and seizures as well as walking and balance disorders. Excessive laugher is another characteristic and one that separates AS from cerebral palsy and autism. The Angelman Syndrome Foundation is dedicated to raising money to fund clinical research that will advance the knowledge, cause, treatment and eventual cure of AS. Our Advantage RN family has been touched by AS and hopes its contributions to the AS Foundation will bring additional awareness and funding. To learn more about Angelman Syndrome and its fundraising Walk-A-Thons that take place in many cities across the country, check out
www.angelman.org.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
uses its Children’s Relief Fund to respond to disasters that affect children at home in the U.S. -- such as Hurricanes Katrina and Ike -- and worldwide -- such as the recent earthquake in Haiti.
The devastation from the January, 2010 earthquake in Haiti was severe. Thousands of homes and buildings – including hospitals –collapsed, and the total number of deaths turned out to be approximately 230,000. Although cleanup is moving along now, it’s slow and is sure to continue for many months.
AAP worked with the Haiti Pediatrics Society, National Association of Children’s Hospitals and the US Department of Health and Human Resources to provide medical volunteers and support to help address the primary healthcare needs of the citizens – and in particular the children -- in this devastated country. Along with its monetary contribution, Advantage RN sends its sincere hopes and prayers that total relief will eventually be a reality for all Haitian children and their families. To learn more about how the American Academy of Pediatrics comes to the aid of pediatricians and children worldwide, please go to
www.aap.org.
Susan G. Komen Foundation
Almost everyone has been touched by Breast Cancer. It might be a friend, a family member, or even a co-worker who has been diagnosed with the disease, but its effect has been felt universally. The Susan G. Komen Foundation is the largest breast cancer charity in the world; its research and fundraising efforts have had a dramatic impact on the fight against the disease. Millions of women turn to the Foundation’s resources to augment their own knowledge of breast cancer and their treatment options.
Millions more women have participated in the Foundation’s Race for the Cure, the largest series of 5k runs and fitness walks in the world which started in 1967. The Race for the Cure not only raises significant funds and awareness for the fight against the disease, it also celebrates breast cancer survivorship and honors those who have lost their battle against the disease.
Many Advantage RN employees have supported the Foundation by walking in Race for the Cure events or participating in the Foundation’s other fitness event – the 3-Day for the Cure walk -- a 60-mile fundraising walk. This year, Advantage RN has made its own additional donation to this worthy Foundation. To learn more, please go to
www.komen.org.
The Fistula Foundation
The (World Health Organization) WHO calls
Fistula
"the single most dramatic aftermath of neglected
childbirth". Fistula develops when the blood supply to the tissues of critical organs is cut off during prolonged obstructed labor. Women who develop fistula lose their bodily functions and are often abandoned by their husbands, rejected by their communities, and forced to live an isolated existence as they suffer profound psychological trauma.
Eradicated in western countries at the end of the 19th century when cesarean section became widely available, obstetric fistula continues to plague women throughout the developing world. It is estimated that there are 100,000 new fistula cases each year, but the international capacity to treat fistula remains at only 6,500 per year. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates the world's population of fistula sufferers at more than two million. To learn more, please go to
www.fistulafoundation.org.
Make- A-Wish Foundation of Ohio
If you could make a wish…what would it be?
That is the exact question the Make-A-Wish Foundation asks children with life threatening medical conditions. The Foundation not only asks the question, but delivers the magic: since its 1984 beginnings, the Ohio Foundation has granted over 6300 wishes to children all over Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
Advantage RN’s donation supported Make-A-Wish’s annual Walk-A-Thon and more importantly paid for Tracey’s wish – a trip to Disney World. Five-year-old Tracey was three when he was diagnosed with Sickle Cell disease. At the age of four he endured a bone marrow transplant (compliments of his brother – a perfect match) to help battle the disease. The energetic, happy little boy got a brief reprieve from hospitals and doctor visits during his weeklong Disney World adventure with his family. Tracey is now in remission.
Tracey was this year’s honorary Wish Child at the Walk-A-Thon event that took place in Columbus on August 16, 2008. A good time was had by all participants who enjoyed the food, entertainment and the casual walk with Tracey and other Make-A-Wish donors and participants. All of us at Advantage RN wish Tracey and his family a lifetime of good fortune and health.
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| Matt Price (pictured on the right) welcomed Tracey (pictured second from right) and
his brother
LaShaun,
mother Denise,
his aunt and
baby
cousin, and Make-A-Wish
Executive Director Tim McCarthy to a picnic lunch at Advantage RN’s headquarters in August. |
Tracey (in the green shirt) and his family, along with Matt Price and some local Columbus newscasters, get ready to begin the Walk-A-Thon with 600
participants. |
Culture Works of Dayton
Culture Works is the united arts fund and arts service agency for the Greater Dayton, Ohio region. The organization provides the single largest source of public funding for the arts. Creating and maintaining a vibrant and attractive community filled with quality arts brings measurable and immeasurable value to the community.
Culture Works is proud to be the largest provider of general operating support for the many non-profit arts organizations operating in Greater Dayton. The organization partners with corporations, foundations and individuals to secure a flourishing, creative environment for area residents of all ages and backgrounds.
From its nationally and internationally renowned DCDC Contemporary Dance Company to its Philharmonic Orchestra, Muse Machine (a premier arts education program benefiting tens-of-thousands of young people each year) and K12 Gallery for Young Artists to the dozens of other arts-related organizations, Culture Works of Dayton enriches the lives of many both in this region and beyond.
President and CEO of Advantage RN Matt Price is a new Board member of the organization.
"The local arts enhance the attractiveness of Dayton and their educational outreach programs provide inspiration to thousands of children," says Price.
"Having grown up here I’ve seen the positive effect it has had on the community, and I’m happy to be a part of it."
To read Culture Works' article on Advantage RN,
click
here.
Aqua Viva Children’s Home
Nearly 75% of Guatemala’s 12 million residents live in poverty. Many Guatemalan children never attend school because they must work to help support their families – usually on the streets, in the fields, or in factories. No social programs exist to rescue at-risk children or to support poor families.
Two Advantage RN employees traveled to Guatemala in the summer of 2008 to volunteer to work at Agua Viva Children’s Home, located in the mountains above Guatemala City. The two were part of a group of 28 who worked at the school that offers a safe haven for about 80 children from the ages of 1.5 – 18. The group helped with some construction projects on site as well as with other activities needed by the school. They also spent plenty of time with the children.
The group was so inspired by the children and the way each child embraced life and their newest visitors -- especially given their circumstances. They approached their school work and extracurricular activities with open and enthusiastic hearts.
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| Little Sophie, born in Guatemala,
is now home in America with her new Advantage RN family. |
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| In Guatemala we learned that those with so little have the ability to give us so much. |
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