by Daniel Huntsman, LEED AP
dhuntsman@huntsmanag.com

At Huntsman we foster a culture where passion, dedication, and service have a real impact on the lives of those we design for. These values are instrumental in the work we do, but they also extend beyond our projects to our communities.  As a firm, we participate in a number of charitable events and fundraisers yearly.  This year, I’d like to highlight a unique program that has become one of our favorite holiday traditions.

Since I started the firm in 1981, we have distributed bonuses to our staff at mid-year and again during the winter holidays.  With the year end bonus, each of our employees also receives a second check which is not made out to anyone.  The idea was to pass the check along to an organization, a cause, or even an individual to whom it would make a difference.  While many firms make a united donation to charities on behalf of their employees, this program was borne out of my desire to enable our staff to actually help direct the firm’s philanthropy. As it is their year-long efforts that make it possible for us to have money to donate, it is only fair to have our staff help identify at a very personal level where their share of our contribution goes.

The rules of the program are simple. We only ask that our employees send the check someplace where they think it will truly be helpful. They can even simply cash the check and give the cash to an individual whom they know is in need.  I know that in many cases the second check gets added to contributions our employees are already making on their own.

And the program is completely anonymous.  We do not know where the donations go until weeks later when thank you letters come into the office from many of the recipients.  They are written by real people who sincerely appreciate the generosity of our employees. The number of letters we receive and the sincerity of the gratitude validates the breadth of our program and that our contributions are getting to where it matters.

Often these letters are from non-profit organizations that we did not necessarily know about before. Some are new and some have been active for years, but they all bring to our attention the social, economic, and environmental issues present in our communities.  It has been fulfilling to see the diverse mix of causes that our staff chooses to support.

by Dan Huntsman
dhuntsman@huntsmanag.com

As the holiday season draws to a close, we are reminded of how the spirit of giving extends beyond our family and friends to the communities in which we work and live. Within the design profession, there are a host of opportunities to use our creativity to collaborate with community organizations whose missions are to serve those in need. For many of these groups, financial support to sustain the quality of their services has become increasingly more difficult to raise. They often have to develop innovative programs to gain visibility for their causes and attract both donors and volunteers. The contributions made by our employees have helped these organizations with fundraising and outreach efforts, and through their talents and skills, have been able to share the gift of design.

For the past 12 years, Huntsman has participated in We Care, an annual holiday event sponsored by Herman Miller. For this event, architecture and design firms in 27 cities around the country join together to volunteer their time and skills in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of America. Teams comprised of designers host craft stations, where kids make personalized gifts. At the start of the holiday season, Huntsman staff in both New York and San Francisco joined leading design firms to bring their expertise and passion for design to work with over 450 school kids in creating unique gifts – everything from jewelry, holiday themed tee shirts, photo frames, to wall clocks. At the end of the day, the children who participated in the event brought home armloads of handmade gifts.

“We strive to create smiles and stories that will be well remembered,” says Erin Wendt, who supports the coordination efforts on behalf of the Herman Miller A+D team, “We aim to incorporate the arts and culture as part of the day. In addition to the craft-making, we host photos with Santa, a face-painting table and offer temporary tattoos as part of the fun. The best response that we could hear at the end of the day is for the children to ask if we would return next year!”

Among the many challenges of putting together this event is coordinating craft designs that could be created by children ranging in age from 5 to 12 years old. “While planning, we have to consider several aspects: creativity of the craft, originality, cost, and ease of assembly,” shares Andrea Hurtado from Huntsman. “Kids have only 45 minutes to go from table to table, so creativity and efficiency were in high supply.”

Where the kids find delight in creating handmade gifts, designers get the opportunity to access their inner child, play with their creativity, and make time for our community. It also gives them a chance to encourage kids to use their imagination and to access their creativity for a thoughtful gift. It stresses the adage that gift giving is about meaning more than commercial value. “It is such an exciting event for the children, and they are so appreciative for the opportunity to make these gifts,” adds Huntsman’s Brandye Johnson, “not only for their loved ones, but for themselves as well.”

For CANstruction, a national fundraising event whose proceeds benefit local food banks, building creative sculptures out of food cans is leveraged as a marketing tool to draw the public in and create awareness for the organization. CANstruction holds annual design and build competitions to construct giant sized structures made entirely out of canned food. In more than 100 cities in North America, the structures are on display to the general public the week before Thanksgiving.

San Francisco CANstruction proposed the theme of the Cannes Film Festival for 2012, which required entries to tie back to the international film festival. Paying homage to its client Pixar Animation Studios, Huntsman teamed with GCI General Contractors and Rutherford & Chekene Engineers to construct a sculpture inspired by the film “Up,” the first animated feature film to premier at Cannes. Comprised of more than 5,300 cans of chicken, tuna, beef stew, crab meat, and assorted vegetables, the “Up” structure represents a whole greater than the sum of its many parts – an idea that is reflected in the event itself with 13 other structures in the competition. The event raised more than 70,000 cans of food which were donated to the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks.

“CANstruction is an ideal way for our industry to give back to the community in which we build,” shares Lauren Sherman, Chairperson for SF CANstruction. “Food and shelter are the basics that many are struggling with right now. CANstruction raises a tremendous amount of food while having fun and raising awareness about issues of hunger.” Only in its second year in the Bay Area, CANstruction 2012 represents the largest, single canned food donation in the food banks’ history, driving home the point that creative ideas can be made of the most common product like a can of food. And that design can help tell a much more compelling and visual story.

While the holidays are a time when we are more conscious about the thought of giving, we can all pool our individual talents and creative ideas any time of year. The collective good is designed by our ability to come together and support each other.

From all of us at Huntsman Architectural Group, we wish you the best in the new year.