Filling in the Blanks has teamed up with a new corporate partner: Burns Construction! The Burns team recently hosted a golf tournament fundraiser for us that was a huge success.
To understand their values and the motivation behind this generous new partnership, we interviewed a member of the Burns Construction team, Anthony Sallati, to dig a little deeper. Here’s what Anthony shared with us on behalf of the team:
How did Burns Construction first get involved with Filling in the Blanks?
“I actually looked up all non-profit charities in Connecticut and went through every single one alphabetically. Our goal was to find an organization who gave total funds to a direct cause, preferably to children. When we saw that Filling in the Blanks only has one paid employee and does so many great events that help children in our local areas, it was easy to choose them. After meeting with Tina and Shawnee, it solidified the choice we made.”
What connection does Burns have to FITB’s mission of ending local childhood hunger? What does this work mean to you?
“The original owner of our company, Edward T. Burns Jr., always looked to give back to his community. Our charity is in his name and his son, Ken Burns Sr., is following in his footsteps of helping local communities and, more directly, children in the local communities.
The Burns Family has donated to many soup kitchens, children homes and schools to help children and others over the years. There is always a thought of ‘How can we help others?’ This means everything to the Burns Family and is one of the main reasons the organization was started.”
Why is getting involved at a local level so important to Burns?
“Burns has been a staple in CT and more specifically the Stratford area for over 60 years. We have grown to a size our original owner didn’t even think possible, and we continue to grow. It is very important to help the community around us. As we grow, we love to see others grow and do well around us.”
Businesses can make a big difference when they give back to their community, especially when each employee has an opportunity to get involved with the work. What are some ways that your employees work together with FITB?
“This year, we chose Filling in the Blanks as a recipient of proceeds from our annual golf event. We suggested FITB to our golf committee and we unanimously agreed that this is an organization we wanted to partner with. We had about 12 volunteers from our company who worked the golf event and helped promote FITB as our charity that would benefit from monies raised.
It was great working with FITB for the first time. I hope we will be able to work together with Tina and Shawnee in the future. We clicked from the beginning and share the same drive for helping kids locally. We wish Filling in the Blanks nothing but the best!”
We’re building something great together, and the Filling in the Blanks team is extremely thankful. We’re always open to developing custom partnerships like this one—and there are so many creative ways local companies can give back with us.
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