Community

Celebrating 25 Years with Rorke's 25 for 25 Initiative

To celebrate Rorke Data’s 25th year in business, we launched the "Rorke 25 for 25 Initiative", whose goal is to carry out 25 acts of charitable volunteer service throughout this anniversary year.  Employees may nominate a project that is special to them and Rorke encourages them to take the lead, get others involved in donating time and manpower and together build stronger ties to the community.

1

Angels Among Us Help with FaCT

Rorke Data’s first ‘25 for 25’ event took place January 26th with Facing Cancer Together (FaCT), an organization providing support and education to children and families who have a parent with cancer: John Rorke pulled together a group of Rorke Data employees who spent several hours at FaCT's headquarters assembling a big calendar mailing.  John has been a volunteer with the group for four years and the FaCT employees shared a video of the families that benefit from their services. 

"All of us walked away feeling positive. It felt good knowing that just a few solid hours from our group went a long way to help the folks over at FaCT concentrate on some of the bigger-picture tasks at hand." said Rorke.  "Everyone left with a smile on their face, and we're hoping this kick off event gets everyone else geared up at Rorke to participate in this year-long charity initiative.  10-15 people volunteering for a couple of hours can mean a lot to these non-profit organizations."

Enjoy a fun video John and his old band made with the help of his Teen Group at FaCT’s summer Kids Kamp in 2009:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAzXNt2euOM

FaCT helps families gain understanding, strength and hope as they face the challenges of cancer together. The mission of the Facing Cancer Together program is to strengthen the family as they face the challenges of cancer together through education and support. FaCT is a program of the Angel Foundation of Minnesota. For more on Facing Cancer Together and the Angel Foundation, please go to: http://www.mnangel.org/get-support/facing-cancer-together 

2

Rorke Employees Package Food
for Children

On February 11, Rorke employees, led by Lori Thrune packaged food for Feed My Starving Children, a Minnesota – based non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s starving children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: children and adults hand-pack meals formulated specially for starving children, and we ship the meals to more than 60 countries around the world.  A single meal consisting of specially formulated ingredients that include rice, dehydrated vegetable, vitamins and minerals, and soy protein that is easily prepared in boiling water costs only 17 cents to produce, and 94 percent of total donations goes directly toward the food program. Rorke employees packed 11,800 food packages, enough to feed 33 children for  an entire year! www.fmsc.org

3

Catholic Charities Receive Goods
from Rorke

Global Sales Director, Scott McCallum, organized a goods drive for Catholic Charities during January, February and March. Scott collected from Rorke employees 25 boxes of goods, including food, clothing and household items. Catholic Charities helps people meet their basic needs as they work to become self sufficient, positively impacting the lives of children, adults and families. Catholic Charities annually helps 35,000 people, regardless of faith. Scott delivered the 25 boxes to the St. Paul Dorothy Day Center where goods will be distributed. www.ccspm.org

4

Caring Bridge

In April, Rorke employees headed up by Rob Hill assisted Caring Bridge in assembling over 1400 annual report mailers. CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization providing free websites that connect family and friends during a serious health event, care and recovery. A CaringBridge website is personal, private and available 24/7. It helps ease the burden of keeping family and friends informed. Many Rorke employees have used Caring Bridge to support several of our co-workers who have become ill or have been struggling with a health crisis. Authors add health updates and photos to share their story while visitors leave messages of love and support in the guestbook. www.caringbridge.org

5

Race For The Cure

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® is the most successful charity event ever created, and has changed the way the world views breast cancer. On Mother’s Day at the Mall of America, Jennifer Anderson, her cousins, her aunt and her sister (along with over 50,000 other participants!) raced to celebrate survivorship, honor those who have lost their battle, and most importantly, raise funds and awareness for the fight against this life threatening disease. Jennifer and team walked in honor and support of her mother who underwent treatment this past year. She is hopeful that her mother will be strong enough to join Jennifer on the walk next year!

The Twin Cities event raised over $2.5M for breast cancer research, screening and preliminary treatment programs.

6

Animal Humane Society

In March, Amber Carlson organized a goods drive to benefit the Animal Humane Society here in Minnesota. Amber’s campaign collected “wish list” items, including 9 bags of dog toys, boxes of towels, newspapers, cat toys and litter, and dog food. The AHS is a private non-profit organization striving to create a more humane world for animals. AHS offers animal adoption and surrender, educational/outreach programs fostering humane values and animal responsibility, and pet services including education and boarding. Due to the economic downturn, shelters everywhere are experiencing more surrenders than ever, and Amber felt this was a great way to show support and help the animals. www.animalhumanesociety.org

7

Quilt Raffle for at risk teens

Don McDonell, based in CA, organized a raffle for a Twilight-themed quilt, handmade by his daughter Alycia Williams. The raffle raised over $830 for the Libby Teen Center in Spokane, WA which serves at risk youth ages 12-18 offering everything from educational assistance to basketball. Aly, an elementary school teacher in Spokane has focused on improving teen reading skills by using the proceeds from the raffle to start a library at the center. Under the heading of "pay it forward," this event has an interesting and heart-warming twist: the woman who won the quilt, herself a retired Spokane school teacher, is entering it into an auction to raise even more money for the kids!

8

MS Society Ride and Rock

Matt Linstad’s client, CRASH+SUES joined forces with the Twin Cities advertising community, industry vendors, local businesses and bands for the first annual AD RIDE+ROCK: A 150 mile motorcycle run and live concert to benefit the Minnesota Chapter of the MS Society. Rorke volunteered riders and drivers for the event, and Matt provided marketing support and raised over $1,000.00 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. A fun day indeed! www.RideandRock.com

9

Bridging

Eight Rorke employees and family members volunteered on the last Saturday in July at the Bloomington Bridging facility, sorting goods and providing assistance in the warehouse. Bridging provides the economically disadvantaged with quality furniture and household items, free of charge, by effectively utilizing community resources. You can help make a world of difference by helping someone establish a new home and a better life. Each year Bridging benefits nearly 16,000 individuals (over 5,000 households) who are given a sense of dignity and stability as they rebuild their lives. www.bridging.org

Rorke employees and kids with Diana Dalsin, Volunteer Manager, Bridging

10

Northland 300 Rally

Tim Olson rode in the Northland 300 River Run July 31, a 160 mile ride starting and ending in Lakeland, MN. 50 riders went north, up the Minnesota side of the St Croix River and came back down through the Wisconsin side. All donations went towards the Special Olympics. Northland 300’s mission is to raise funds for Special Olympics Minnesota through year-round activities planned by an all-volunteer Board of Directors. The Northland 300 is committed to positively impacting the lives of Special Olympics Minnesota athletes through hands-on learning experiences. By opening doors of opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities, the Northland 300 strives to teach the athletes new and improved fundraising techniques to take back and implement within their own teams. With the athletes always in mind, the Northland 300 aims to present all those involved in Special Olympics Minnesota with priceless life lessons. www.northland300.org