"I am a huge believer in giving back and helping out in the community and the world. Think globally, act locally I suppose. I believe that the measure of a person's life is the affect they have on others. "

- Steve Nash

As individuals, Deborah discovered that all of ErgoFit's employees followed this philosophy...and an idea began to emerge:      

As a company what could we do locally to have a positive affect on others?

Deborah asked this very question to each of ErgoFit's employees during a quarterly staff outing in 2014.  We began to put a list together of things that we had done as a company in the past:

2001 to present - Deborah began mentoring young women in high school often through internships 

2012 - ErgoFit began its job shadowing opportunities for undergrad students, and Kim co-created Puget Sound Human Factors & Ergonomics Society's (PSHFES) Technically Cool Computing (TCC) Education Module providing free resources to the community to assist teaching children healthy computing.

2013 - ErgoFit had it's first Occupational Safety & Health interns, increased it's job shadow opportunities for undergrad students, and began it's yearly support of AAA Washington's Soap for Hope campaign, but also became involved with Cancer Pathways (formerly Gilda's Club Seattle) at the request of Seattle Genetics

2014 - ErgoFit continued it's support of AAA Washington's Soap for Hope campaign, and job shadowing opportunities for students, but added research opportunities for students on pipetting interventions, participated with Juno Therapeutics team Light the Night Walk to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society , and  volunteered services for App Camp for Girls  

 

We realized that we have community involvement, but wanted to officially make it a part of ErgoFit's culture.

The result was this:

As a small business based in Seattle, ErgoFit Consulting, Inc. depends on our community to survive.  We are thankful for all of those individuals and organizations that allow us to continue doing what we love: helping businesses thrive and individuals succeed in their chosen professions.  At our final Team Gathering in 2014, we decided to develop a plan to support local non-profits that support the Puget Sound area. 

In 2015 we were excited to offer our time and expertise in ergonomics to various organizations such as:

  Providing ergonomic training to Goodwill employees who are learning valuable skills to obtain and maintain jobs

  To support our Wellness mission, growing and donating extra produce from our own personal gardens to Hopelink during their Plant a Row for Hopelink event in the spring to help supply fresh produce to children and their families to support healthy eating habits

  Working with children in the school district to teach proper computer ergonomics for healthy life long habits while interacting with technology by teaching the Technically Cool Computing program developed by the Puget Sound Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (PSHFES)

  Continuing to donate to the Soap for Hope! drive through AAA Washington, which we have participated in the last two years

     And in 2016 we continued giving back to our community:

  Paul extended the Technically Cool Computing program to an elementary school in Ballard

  We continue to donate our fresh produce to Hopelink directly from our own gardens to support healthy eating initiatives 

  Monique volunteered  at the Kids Obstacle Challenge promoting physical activity and fun for children!  Deborah's daughter participated in the race as well! We hope to make this a yearly event for our team in the years to come!

  Continuing to donate to the AAA Washington's Soap for Hope campaign, which we have participated in the last two years

  Tonya joined a team of other PSHFES members to completed an ergonomic evaluation for Skills, Inc. to identify ergonomic risk factors in their deburring department.  Their results will be shared at the annual PSHFES Symposium in September 2016