Forte Construction and its affiliates (TAP and BR) have always donated to various charities throughout the year. Last year, we started a new tradition known as the “Staff Picked Charity Contest” with the goal of engaging employees to participate in the charity selection process. Employees are given the opportunity to submit their favorite charity, along with an explanation as to why their charity is important and personal to them. The entries are judged anonymously and the winner is chosen based on the strength of the employee’s connection to the charity and their effort to convey that. The winner’s charity receives a $10k donation before Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving). The charity chosen by last year’s winner was Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
This year we received even more entries than last year, and choosing between them was even more difficult. After much deliberation, due to the overwhelmingly convincing arguments made by two employees in favor of their charities, we decided to change the rules for 2021 and picked two winners. Moreover, since we consider ourselves so very fortunate to have experienced great success in recent years, we decided to donate $10k to each charity, rather than splitting it between them. The charities chosen were IRIE Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island.
IRIE Therapeutic Horseback Riding works with children who have special needs. The employee that submitted this charity has a grandchild with Autism and has seen first-hand how this organization helped her become more sociable and interactive through learning about horses, how to ride them, and how to care for them. For more info contact iriehorses@aol.com
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Long Island creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. The employee that submitted this charity is a Big Sister and enjoys being a positive role model for her “Little Sister.” As a Big Sister, she sees the potential in every kid no matter the circumstances and is proud of the work Big Brothers Big Sisters does. Learn more here