One of Truly Nolen’s core values is “Adding Value to the Lives We Touch,” and as Autumn gets ready to turn to Winter, two of our favorite ways to give back ended in November after a fun six-week stretch.
Why is giving back so important to our company?
“The tradition of community events we have established over many years as a company begins with my grandfather, Truly Wheatfield Nolen,” says Truly Nolen President Scarlett Nolen, referring to the Pest Management Professional Hall of Famer (Class of 2006). “Coming out of the Great Depression, he believed in trying to lift the spirits of the community where he owned Economy Exterminators, and as a result, he would always become involved with carnivals and always participated in Christmas parades with his unique-looking vehicles.”
Along those lines, when Scarlett’s father, Truly David Nolen, founded our company, he also believed that connecting with people by becoming involved with the local communities he served was a building block to build around.
Scarlett’s sister Michelle Nolen helped further that cause twice over the last 11 years. And with solid company support for both, two different projects have grown to levels no one could have ever predicted.
1. Truly Spooktacular
In 2014, Michelle visited Tucson Medical Center in our company’s headquarter city to bring some Halloween cheer to some children who might otherwise not receive the attention that other holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah typically do.
“We wanted to give kids a nice distraction because it is never fun to be at a hospital or away from their siblings,” Nolen said back in 2022 when asked about the program’s origins. “Anything we can do to brighten a child’s day is a great gift to them. In addition, for their families to be able to breathe a little bit and know that they are not alone and to have something their children can smile about, look forward to doing, and brighten up their hospital room a little bit is why we do what we do.”
In 2015, the program known as “Truly Spooktacular” grew to five hospitals in three states. Over the last nine years, our event coordinator and strategist Hannah Stakley and I are proud to have helped grow this program to the number our company reached in October: 47 hospitals (42 in-person visits) in 13 states and two Canadian provinces.
2. Community Car Show
In early 2017, Michelle had a conversation with her father, an avid car collector, about having a car show at our company’s Tucson headquarters where 50 of his antiques could be displayed for the local public.
“He told me he liked the idea because people always want to sit in his cars and have their picture taken,” Nolen said back in 2017, a few months after Truly David had passed away. “Therefore, I’m excited the car doors will be unlocked so people will be able to sit in the antiques, take photos, use our Snapchat event filter, and have some free family fun while learning more about the many non-profit organizations in Tucson.”
With guidance and assistance from our community relations and event coordinator, Ray Rico, the event began opening up to car show clubs around Tucson and focused less on Truly’s vehicles. The additional commitment to having non-profit agencies on-site, as well as a kid’s activity area, has helped the Community Car Show grow into one of Tucson’s biggest annual events.
On Nov. 9, the show celebrated its sixth edition. It has become more Veterans Day-themed over the last two years, culminating in our company signing a partnership agreement at this year’s car show as part of the U.S. Army Partnership for Your Success (PaYS) program.
The PaYS program is designed to help soldiers prepare for a career after the Army by connecting them with employers who understand the skills, discipline, and work ethic that military service members bring to a business. This program is part of a long-term U.S. Army effort to help soldiers forge professional relationships with businesses and encourage business owners to look to the Army as a plentiful and reliable recruiting source. Since PaYS began in 2000, more than 1,299 employers have partnered with the program.
Using the month-long “Truly Spooktacular” program and Community Car Show as blueprints for what we strive in terms of connecting with people — and even finding new team members — at these events, we work hard to foster that type of connection throughout all of the community events we do across the entire year.
“Whether it’s a Career Day school visit or a simple weekend Touch-a-Truck event, our team members understand why connecting with their local communities can go a long way to making our company top-of-mind for a parent, teacher, or event attendee,” says Scarlett Nolen.
As 2025 approaches, finding what your pest control company or individual team members are passionate about can go a long way to developing how you connect with your own local communities.
<p>The post Consider embracing the ‘Season of Giving Back’ first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/12/02/consider-embracing-the-season-of-giving-back/
Sacramento CA
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