Linde gives graduating seniors a “lift”
Volunteers needed about four hours to inflate and organize the balloons and another six to deliver them to graduating students.
A recent example is Linde’s support for a Somerville New Jersey High School fundraiser that helps cover the costs of "Project Graduation,” a drug and alcohol free party thrown by the Parent Teachers Organization for seniors the night of graduation.
To raise money, the PTO sells bright orange, helium-filled "Ville" balloons and delivers them to the seniors’ homes while they are at graduation rehearsal. In past years the PTO had to buy the helium from a competitor. This year Linde donated 10 cylinders worth of helium, making the fundraiser much more successful.
One of the employees who made it possible is Brian Bumgarner, who works in Linde’s Opportunity and Project Development group supporting business development for large investments.
“My wife has been volunteering at event for a few years, even though our oldest son, Casey, only started high school this year,” said Bumgarner. “She has been asking me to look into the possibility of Linde providing the helium and I thought it would be a nice tie-in to Linde’s move to Bridgewater - the new office is about a mile from Somerville High School.”
Bumgarner first went to Corporate Communications, which put him in touch with Andy Harder, National Sales Manager - MRI Helium. Harder suggested Richard Dinwiddie, plant manager at the Bethlehem helium plant.
“Richard did all the heavy lifting,” said Bumgarner. “I put the event organizer in direct contact with Richard and they worked out all the details. The delivery and pickup of the cylinders went smoothly and I was impressed with the attention to safety during drop off.”
The result? Many smiles and a community service well done.
