Siemens Sends Holiday Gifts to Forsyth Senior Center, Family YMCA

Children and seniors served by the Forsyth Family YMCA and the Forsyth Senior Center are among the more than 1,000 who are getting a brighter holiday with the efforts of Siemens and the company's employees. On Friday the gifts were collected in Alpharetta for distribution through the two Forsyth County agencies and the Children's Restoration Network.

"We've actually been running a holiday giving campaign since 2005. It's really grown since 2009, because that's about the time we went from being a very small location across two or three of our locations to all 16 locations where we have our folks based," said Cathe Reams, director of Communications for Siemens.

Siemens is spread out across the metro area, she said, sometimes in full buildings and other sites with small offices. Siemens employs more than 2,600 people in the area and is home to the Infrastructure and Cities sector U.S. headquarters.

Siemens has also donated over $11,000 to the three local charities as part of a grant given to the company for winning the Community Excellence Award in 2011. The donations will help support an additional 60 children associated with CRN, 76 additional seniors and 180-250 individuals for the YMCA all in the metro Atlanta region.

Reams said the company picked the Children's Restoration Network because it covers the entire metropolitan area.

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"Certainly there's a soft spot in everyone's heart for a child, particularly on Christmas morning," Reams said.

Those children who live in group homes or homeless shelters are not hard to support, she said.

Siemens, the single largest contributor to CRN’s holiday campaign, will be presenting the three local charities with gifts for more than 1,000 children and seniors in need to be delivered this holiday season. Gift pick-ups occurred throughout the day on Dec. 7 at various Siemens locations across Atlanta, collecting them in an Alpharetta location

Siemens involvement with the Forsyth Senior Center is recent, she said.

"A couple of our locations expressed interest with seniors who are homebound, who might not get contact other than Meals on Wheels," Reams said.

Some of those locations are in Forsyth. So Siemens gave them a call. The amount of need that was out there surprised Seimens representatives.

"We were very surprised the need that was out there," she said.

The support of the Forsyth Family YMCA came from local connections.

"We have a very large manufacturing facility in Forsyth County. The team there has expressed interest because they have so many people who live there as well," she said.

This sponsorship supports children who are in more rural areas.

"We'd love to give to everybody. But these organizations seem to do a good job covering the are where our employees live and work," she said.

Reams said even with the help Siemens is giving, there is still plenty of need. They are assisting just over 1,000 childrens and seniors. It's still early in the holiday season to get involved, she said.

"Make sure no one goes without something under their tree on Christmas morning. There are still plenty of giving days," she said.

 About the Children's Restoration Network

The Children’s Restoration Network is a non-profit agency which has been serving homeless children and mothers in Atlanta since 1993. In its 17-year history, CRN has served over 38,000 homeless children and 11,000 adult women, working with 134 shelters and group homes in 19 counties around metro Atlanta. CRN is one of three Atlanta-area charities that Siemens has partnered with for the past seven years during its annual Angel Tree Campaign.

About Forsyth Family YMCA

Forsyth Family YMCA supports local children and families and administers a holiday gift campaign to serve families in need including The Place of Forsyth. Forsyth Senior Center is a focal point in the community where older adults gather for services and activities that respond to their diverse needs and interests to enhance their dignity and support independence.