July 2005 - Posts
Why is Community Involvement Important?
The most important factor that reflects the value of community involvement is that people are empowered to have a say in decisions about actions that affect their lives.
By involving oneself within the community, one gets to regularly interact with the community and proactively share information from member to member, to seek out and facilitate the involvement of others, provide information to the community so as to get others to participate in a meaningful way; to communicate to all everyone’s interests, to meet the needs of all the members of the community; to share with the members how their input was or was not used; and lastly, to communicate to all, how the contributions of the community can influence decisions.
It is the actively participating member who “makes things happen”, who serves as an example and inspiration to others, and who encourages others to volunteer, for the good of the whole group.
The importance to be involved is best described by John Donne: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Thank you.
Luis Pinto
Villa Hills, KY
Why is community involvement important?
Community involvement is like a seed planted in good, solid ground. As the seed develops, it takes its rightful place in the garden and begins to complement the flowers that surround it. A company that is involved in the community enhances the landscape by cultivating perennial relationships with individuals and organizations within the garden. Much like the sun’s essential rays, companies that come together to help their neighbors in times of natural disaster or financial difficulty quench the community’s need for economic and social fertilizer. When the direct results of the support from a local company enable people to cultivate their lives and begin to flourish, their respect for the provider of that sustenance blossoms. In return, these companies may enjoy the fruits of their labor in the form of new consumers and a dedicated workforce. A community can flourish when local companies tend to their garden.
Lourdes E Colon
New Holland, PA
Why is Community involvement important?
Winston Churchill once said, “You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.” In today’s society where individuals are out to make a quick buck, Churchill’s true meaning of life has tragically gone by the wayside. The modern fast paced life that we live in creates a self-centered society where we fail to stop thinking of ourselves for a moment and instead give our time to others.
Community involvement is comprised of people joined in one effort to fix a problem or create a solution before the problem arises. Whether it’s working to educate tomorrow’s leaders by developing educational programs or increasing the awareness of minorities, the power of one person is enough to impact the lives of many others. When we look back at the accomplishments in our lives, the best moments will be those when we did something for others.
Pablo Macouzet
Amarillo, TX
Participemos en Nuestra Comunidad
Las comunidades son creadas por la gente que habita en ellas.
El exito de una comunidad va siempre a depender su sus habitantes.
Si en una comunidad hay participacion conjunta de su gente, esta comunidad prosperara y sera exitosa.
Las comunidades crecen no solo cuando el numero de sus habitantes aumenta pero cuando los habitantes se involucran en actividades comunitarias para la prosperidad de ese lugar.
No importa cuantas razas distintas habiten en una comunidad, si todas se unen y forman un equipo su participacion sera de gran beneficio para la comunidad.
Cuando la comunidad esta unida cualquier problema que surja tendra mas posibles soluciones y sera resuelto mas rapido.
Es sabido que una persona puede hacer la diferencia para mejorar una situacion, pero si mas de una se unen en acuerdo y trabajan juntas el resultado sera mejor.
Cuando uno participa en su comunidad el beneficio no solo es para una persona si no para toda la comunidad.
Ayudemos nustras comunidades porque asi nos estaremos ayudando a nosotros mismos!
Sanjuana Le
Emporia, KS
Why it is community involvement important?
It brings people from all walks of life together like a family whether it is in crisis or a celebration. You can get to know your community and find out the different needs and concerns of the people living in the community. You share a common goal and work together to accomplish this common goal like a big family. When I see people working together or visiting together about what we can do to make our community better it gives me a sense of pride to live in this community and help as much I possibly can. In my community, we have a lot of elderly people that can no longer get around much that we take meals to or mow their lawn and see that they appreciate how the community is willing to help their own and take care of their own. Feeding the homeless in our community is also one of the many things that make a community proud simply because it puts a smile on some ones face and merely a simple " Thanks" is enough gratitude and again makes the community feel like a family because it is different people from different backgrounds and walks of life come together. During these days of time consummation from work or kids or taking care of your own needs where time is too priceless. Making the time to invest in your neighborhood, your community, your town, no matter if it is just to reach out to someone in your community for just a few minutes can make a brighter day for someone even if it is just to say a kind word. These are just some of the things that make community involvement important.
Milton Guerrero
Amarillo, TX
Why is Community Involvement Important?
Community involvement is important because it gives the company credibility amongst the leaders of the community and its people. Being involved in the community is not just a matter of credibility, but a matter of integrity of us being the agent of the company in communicating our core values. The Tyson logo that we wear in our communities is representative of the deeds that we do and how we do them within our community. We can be a symbol of job security, trust, faith-friendly, integrity, credibility, or a symbol of all the opposite if we choose not to be involved in the community. The community and Tyson are two entities that depend on each other to succeed. In 1952 when Cesar Chavez became part of the Community Service Organization (CSO) formed by Saul Alinsky, he reaffirmed the fact that the community and company are two entities whose survival depend on each other "We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community...Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. You are never strong enough that you don't need help."
For me, community service has been an integral part of my job as well as my personal commitment to live up to the core values and give back to our community. I have served as Chamber of Commerce President, Lion’s Club Vice-President, Resource Advisory Vice-Chairman, and many other organizations whose sole purpose is to better the lives of its citizens. As Martin Luther King Jr. said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”.
by Joseph Diaz
Complex HR Manager
Tyson Foods, Waldron Arkansas
Earlier in the summer, Team Members were invited to participate in a contest to become Tyson Foods’ guest of honor at the 76th LULAC National Convention and Exposition. To enter, they had to submit a short essay by responding in their own words to the following question: Why is community involvement important?
The winning entry was posted by Joseph Diaz, complex HR manager at the Tyson Waldron, Arkansas complex. You saw his posts on the blog from the convention.
In the coming days, we'll be posting excerpts from those entries, all of which were very good.
On Wednesday, July 6, John Tyson visited the cooked meats and case ready plants in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the bacon plant in Omaha, Nebraska.
The trip was part of
an ongoing series of plant visits John will be making over the next
couple of years in an effort to personally visit all of our company’s
plant locations. The plants were
among 20 Tyson locations John has visited since the effort was
started (and the first since we began the PowerBlog).
In addition to
allowing John to meet and talk with Team Members throughout the plants,
the visits provide a unique opportunity to invite community leaders in
to see the plant and enhance relationships with location and
corporate leaders.
via email:
Kudos to Tyson Foods, John Tyson, top management, and all staff who
participated at the National LULAC Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Your volunteer efforts, financial support, guidance, and counsel helped make the Annual Convention a great success.
We look forward to working with Tyson Foods and staff to continue help
to build the "New South" with a "Latino Flavor," like the Tyson Spicy
Chicken Jerky.
En las palabras de Don Pedrito Vargas, "muy agradecido, muy agradecido, muy agradecido."
¡Espero verlos a todos en la próxima!!
¡Gracias mil!!!
Hector M. Flores, President
National LULAC
Things were so hectic here at PowerBlog Central today that we received one blog entry hastily scribbled on a piece of paper!
Vernon, Texas, HR Trainer Jennifer Varela-Moreno writes:
I am so excited to be here from Tyson's Vernon plant, where great
Team Members make great bacon! There are so many wonderful people here,
and I am so happy to be able to meet them. And, like at our Vernon
plant, I have made great friends!
Jennifer Varela-Moreno
Como
se nota que Monalisa Moreno, supervisor de turno de RH de la planta de
Cumming, Georgia comio proteina hoy! Y es que despues de que a David
Tobias, gerente de RH del complejo de Pasco, Washington se le ocurriera
sugerirle que le diera a Gloria Estefan una tarjeta de nuestros Valores
Principales de Tyson, Monalisa salto como resorte y a ritmo de samba y
driblando la seguridad de la artista, le entrego la tarjeta.
Todos lo que estabamos compartiendo la mesa con Monalisa, estabamos muy
emocionados con la rapidez y sobre todo la habilidad de nuestra
simpatica Compañera de Equipo, quien ademas de todo tiene el alma
latina de Gloria, dado que Monalisa es originaria de Brasil.
(Thanks for emailing the photo, Monalisa! -Jack)
Nora Venegas, Tyson Foods Manager-Federal Governmental Relations, has this to say about her LULAC experience:
"Hello Power Bloggers,
There are so many things going on at the conference that I do not know where to start. I have had the opportunity to hear so many dynamic speakers and presenters from different business, government and grassroots backgrounds. Coming from a small Tyson office, it has been so wonderful to get to meet fellow Team Members and participate in the conference with them. For me one of the highlights has been listening to John Tyson speak at Wednesday's lunch where there were at least 5 tables of very proud Tyson Team Members."
On the fourth day of the LULAC Convention, we were honored to have the Reverend Jesse Jackson talk about unity between Latinos and African Americans. He had visited Little Rock Central and came back to the convention seeing a big crowd of Latinos chanting “si se puede, si se puede” which means “yes we can, yes we can”. He touched on subjects of education, medical health care, and issues that affect the African American and Latino communities in the United States. The Reverend stated that we as a country must start to “look beyond color, culture, and focus on character”. The speakers have been impressive and on Friday we will have a town hall with Howard Dean, Chairman of the National Democratic Party and Ken Mehlman Chairman of the Republican National Party. Everyone from Tyson is learning, promoting the Tyson brand, and having a good time with Mexico’s famous Mariachi Vargas.
We've had some great support in many ways from our friends at Lopez Negrete. Here are Evelyn Cisneros and Laurette Carnizares who have worked hard to make the Tyson booth a success. Oh, and Virginia also did a little bit ;-). Thanks to you all and the LN folks back in Houston who have worked so hard.
Impresionante discurso del Reverendo Jesse L. Jackson como orador
principal del Unity Luncheon, tocando las fibras de los presentes al
invocarnos a trabajar juntos por el bien de este paîs. El preguntaba a
la audiencia una y otra vez: Quienes somos? reiterando que no importa
la raza, el color de la piel, o nuestro bagaje cultural sino el
caracter y la determinacion con la que actuamos para ayudar a los demas.
Como es que perdemos de vista cosas que parecen tan obvias!
Desafortunadamente es parte de la naturaleza humana desviarnos
momentaneamente de la ruta que nos hemos propuesto. Pero si damos un
paso atras y vemos el panorama desde otra perspectiva, podremos darnos
cuenta que es la unidad y nuestra capacidad de encontrar todas las
cosas que tenemos en comun, y no las diferencias naturales que existen
dentro de nuestras propias culturas. Sin embargo, es necesario que
estemos atentos a los llamados de lideres como el reverendo Jackson
para no olvidar que "JUNTOS SI SE PUEDE".