Channel Charity: Holiday Philanthropy From Solution Providers

Channel Cheer

Solution providers across North America are taking time this holiday season to give back, whether it's raising money to fight diseases or homelessness or donating toys, clothing and food for the needy. Here's a look at some of the philanthropic efforts going on in the channel.

For a closer look at the charitable efforts of technology vendors, see a preview of CRN's special report on how companies give back, available exclusively on the CRN Tech News app starting Monday.

Advanced Systems Group

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) of Thornton, Colo., is helping two charities this month. First, the solution provider, which has been doing holiday food drives in the Denver area for more than five years, is donating food to the Food Bank of the Rockies; ASG donated 600 lbs of food last month alone and is still collecting this month. But that's not all -- ASG is also donating personal hygiene products and man power for The Road Home, a Salt Lake City non-profit dedicated to helping the homeless.

Atomic Data

Atomic Data of Minneapolis, Minn., is supporting the American Refugee Committee (ARC), an international non-profit devoted to providing humanitarian support to refugees and displaced persons across the globe. The solution provider started "Atomic for Uganda" to raise money for the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda, which holds more than 60,000 people. Atomic Data is taking donations and selling ARC T-shirts and wristlets to raise the intended goal of $80,000 by the end of this year; Atomic Data will match all funds up to $40,000. The funds will be used to provide reproductive health education for refugees as well as transportation and housing for humanitarian workers in the region.

Blue Chip Tek

Blue Chip Tek of Sunnyvale, Calif., is lending a hand to fight homelessness this holiday season. The solution provider is assembling holiday dinner baskets for the InnVision Shelter Network, a leading shelter/housing and supportive service charity in Northern California, supporting over 20,000 homeless men, women and children annually. Dave Unger, Blue Chip Tek's director of sales engineering, who has been involved with the Shelter Network's efforts in the past, suggested the charity.

Datacorp

Datacorp of Pembroke Pines, Fla., is tackling cancer this month. The solution provider is helping the Children's Cancer Caring Center by donating gifts for child patients, as well as holding a special Christmas Celebration event for patients and their families. In addition, Datacorp next May will hold its 6th Comedy Cures fundraising event for the Children's Cancer Caring Center at the FTL Hard Rock's Comedy Improv. The solution provider raised more than $30,000 last year from the event.

Denali Advanced Integration

Denali Advanced Integration, a Redmond, Wash.-based solution provider, is supporting needy children this holiday season. The company donated toys for children at the Treehouse, a Seattle-based charity dedicated to helping children in foster care. Denali employees collected toys for two weeks for the Treehouse, and also each employee attending the company's Christmas party brought a new toy for the charity as well.

ePlus

EPlus, a solution provider based in Herndon, Va., supported the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian, one of the top children's hospitals in the country, this holiday season. The company held its holiday party in New York City last week and conducted a charity raffle for the hospital. Employees and guests paid $20 for 25 tickets, and the raffle raised more than $6,000 for the children's hospital.

Hilltop Consultants

Hilltop Consultants of Washington, D.C., is running its first annual toy drive to benefit Toys For Tots, the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's charity program that delivers holiday gifts for underprivileged children. In addition to collecting toy donations, the company is also raising money for Toys For Tots with a Facebook "Like" campaign; the solution provider will donate $500 to the charity if its company Facebook page reaches 500 likes before Dec. 17. If the page receives 1,000 likes, Hilltop will donate $1,000.

IT Weapons

IT Weapons, a solution provider based in Brampton, Ontario, is fighting cancer this holiday season. The company is supporting the local Cancer Assistance Program in Ontario with two fundraising efforts. Last month IT Weapons raised nearly $3,000 with its third consecutive "Movember" contest, and this month the company is using its annual holiday party raffle -- where IT Weapons' suppliers and vendors donate gifts, which are then raffled off to employees and family members -- to raise even more money for the cancer charity.

Nimbo

Nimbo, a New York-based cloud services firm, has been busy this holiday season. The company sponsored a recent benefit for Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism advocacy organization. Nimbo also sponsored a benefit for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and to top it off, the solution provider has been providing a full year of free cloud architecture and consulting for the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity devoted to alleviating poverty in New York.

Red Level Networks

Red Level Networks, headquartered in Novi, Mich., is supporting the Adopt-A-Family project for the Mariners Inn, an organization providing shelter and services for the homeless in Southeastern Michigan. Red Level employees purchased clothing, winter garments, bedding and books for a single-parent family with four children. The solution provider set up an office Christmas tree with gift tags that have the requested items for the adopted family, and each employee takes a tag and purchases the item. The gifts will be delivered to the family before Christmas.