“We honor the top companies who are displaying exemplary philanthropic practices and developing an innovative and unique partnership between companies and nonprofits.”
-Portland Business Journal, 2022
We are honored to accept this award from Portland Business Journal. Here at Virtual Supply, we collectively strive to better our workplace and community. As competitors in the distribution industry, we are driven to deliver on our commitments, support our associates, and help our community along the way. We call our shared company values the “5 Ps” – measuring ourselves based on how we mentor people, celebrate passion, strive for progress, care for our planet, and build upon our partnerships. You can learn more about these values and how we utilize them here.
Read on to learn more about our various philanthropic ventures in the past year, and what earned us this award from Portland Business Journal.
Bridge Meadows
Bridge Meadows helps children who have experienced the foster care system heal from trauma by providing stable, affordable housing, therapeutic programs, and intergenerational community.
Virtual Supply has a long history of working with Bridge Meadows to assist in supporting the children they care for. Over the past decade we have partnered with them in many ways – one of our favorites is getting to fulfill the holiday wish lists of the children they care for and assisting their families in other holiday-related costs. When you walk into the second floor of our corporate offices, the first thing you’ll see is a large mural made by the children of Bridge Meadows.
The American Red Cross
The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.
In the past year, we’ve worked with The American Red Cross to have their donation buses set up outside of our office on three separate occasions. This provides an opportunity for our employees and the local community to conveniently donate blood and save lives in the process. With all three of those events combined, we were able to assist the American Red Cross in collecting over 45 units of blood. On average, 45 units of blood equates to 135 lives saved!
Habitat for Humanity Portland Region
Habitat for Humanity partners with people in your community, and all over the world, to help them build or improve a place they can call home. With your support, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.
Our employees were excited to participate in multiple “Women Build” events at Habitat for Humanity this year. These are days where the organization schedules only female volunteers, and gives them the opportunity to learn new skills, build, and teach others—all while working in a supportive and empowering environment. Even our COO, Shirley Justice, had a blast while working to build homes for our community!
The Oregon Food Bank
The Oregon Food Bank’s mission is to eliminate hunger and its root cause – because no one should be hungry.
We’ve worked with The Oregon Food Bank for years, donating shelf-stable pantry items during the holiday season. In 2022 we stepped it up a notch, and also had some of our team members volunteer to attend “repack and sort” events – where they were able to assist the food bank in sorting over 2,000 pounds of food.
Friends of the Children – Portland
Friends of the Children is a national nonprofit organization that selects and invites youth – all of whom have unique talents, interests and dreams, and face multiple systemic obstacles – to be paired with a paid, professional mentor called a Friend.
Our CEO, Chuck Taylor, implemented Virtual Supply’s relationship with Friends of the Children after having a professional relationship of his own with them for years. We have participated as a company in events that support the organization monetarily – such as a 5k earlier this year.