At Technomics, we like to take the time during the holidays to appreciate how fortunate we are. In our retrospection, we encounter the urge to give back to the community that helped us grow as a company. This season, we continued ongoing partnerships with three organizations that we have supported over the last several years. We believe in consistently supporting charities that have an immediate and important impact in the greater Arlington area.

50/50 Raffle for Bethany House – Assisting Families

Leading up to Technomics’ annual holiday party, Technomicians donated to a 50/50 raffle. The idea behind a 50/50 raffle is that half of the proceeds go to a lucky winner, and the other half of the proceeds go to a charity of our choice. This encourages donations and ensures revenue for the organization we have chosen to support. On top of the indiviaul contributions, Technomics also contributed an additional $250 to support Bethany House.

Bethany House of Northern Virginia, located in Alexandria, received the proceeds of the 50/50 raffle. Bethany House is a non-profit organization that offers emergency shelter and support services for women and children escaping domestic violence.

Bethany House offers secure shelter, counseling, life-skills training, and transition support for women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Below are statistics that demonstrate the need our community has for an organization to support victims of domestic violence. In addition to these statistics, 33% of homeless individuals in Fairfax County designate domestic violence as the cause of their homelessness.

Bethany House  not only gives emergency shelter to those individuals, but also offers crisis intervention and trauma recovery. After an individual leaves Bethany House, the organization offers a system of support designed to prevent relapse into abuse. Many shelters do not offer this service, but Bethany House considers it a quintessential aspect of their organization. On average, a woman returns to her abuser 7 times before leaving for good. Bethany aims to avoid this pitfall by promoting self-sufficency and a healthy family system. Out of 34 clients that exited the Bethany House support system in 2013, only 2 clients returned to their abusers. Technomics is proud to support an organization that has helped combat a prevalent problem in the greater Arlington area.

The Angel Tree – Providing Gifts for Children

Around the holidays, there are children who do not receive gifts because their families are struggling financially. Technomics seeks to rectify that issue through the Salavation Army’s Angel Tree. For over 35 years, the Salvation Army has partnered with families in the DC and Northern Virginia area to ensure all children are able to receive gifts. Some children ask for toy cars, bicycles, dolls, or new clothes. Parents may make requests on behalf of their infants for essential items like blankets, bottles, or pacificers.

Technomicians reached into their own pockets to fund these requests, and delivered them to the Salvation Army for further distribution. We fuilfilled 63 wishes and assisted 17 families in the region.

Wreaths across America – Respecting our Veterans

To conclude the season of giving, Technomics assisted Wreaths across America at the Arlington National Cemetery. Each year, Wreaths across America collects donations to lay wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers. Their mission is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach our children the value of freedom. The wreaths symbolize a commitment to remember and honor our nation’s veterans. The wreath-laying ceremony includes saying the name of fallen veteran aloud, and laying the wreath on his or her grave.

The experience of the wreath-laying ceremony is a deeply moving act of patriotism that Technomics have been involved in for the past eight years. This year, we decided to help the clean-up effort of Wreaths across America, rather than the laying ceremony. After speaking with the head of the volunteer organization, we realized there is never a shortage of volunteers to lay wreaths, but there is often a shortage of volunteers to clean them up.  In the Technomics way— we go where the challenge is.

This year, our team assisted in collecting over 250,000 wreaths from the graves of our fallen heroes. We helped keep our national cemetery clean and beautiful while remembering those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.

From all of us here at Technomics, we hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and a great start to the new decade.