On September 14th we celebrated our annual employee event.
Employees are the essence of a company and here at DDI Vantage, we love and value each one of our employees. Every year our HR team organizes an Employee Recognition Event to celebrate and appreciate the dedicated work that goes into running this nonprofit that started in 1971. Our event was hosted at the Big Cottonwood Regional Park this year. Please take a moment and check out what went on :)
Site Service Projects
This year every employee participated in a Team Service Project to support other non-profit organizations. It was great seeing everyone showcase their project in a creative way.
Administrative
Admin did two projects with the first one being a Book Drive for Guadalupe School - Every staff individual purchased a book from the school's Amazon Wish List and it was sent directly to the school. For the second project, about a thousand notes of encouragement were handwritten and sent to children in Mali. Receiving notes not only lets them know that someone out there cares but it serves as inspiration when the days are long and hard. Plus, it helps them practice their English.
Adult and Youth Services Our wonderful Support Specialists staff served at the Utah Food Bank as their Service Project. They helped sort food donations, assemble food boxes, and repackage bulk food into family-sized amounts to be distributed at different food pastries.
Early Head Start - Taylorsville EHS Taylorsville conducted their Team Service Project at the Utah Refugee Connections. Everyone was very happy, some helped by putting together hygienic items, others with cleaning kits. They loaded and unloaded donations. They also prepared backpacks for the children who are going back to school.
Early Head Start Tooele Tooele reached out to Pathways DV Shelter to see if they needed help with anything and decided to get down and dirty by helping them build a gazebo that they had recently purchased so the ladies and their children could enjoy somewhere to sit in the shade outside.
Early Intervention Tooele EI Tooele definitely represented DDI Vantage by volunteering for a few projects. Most of them helped the Homeless Liaison at the Tooele County School District. They distributed backpacks, school supplies, hygiene kits, socks, underwear, shirts, pants, and shoes to 995 children in the area who would not otherwise have their basic necessities. The event itself was outside and was supposed to be 2 hours, but people were not turned away until after dark. Jen Rumble made quilts for the LDS Humanitarian Center and Lisa Carson held a pet supply drive and gathered 80 pounds of cat litter, 10 pounds of pet treats, and 138 pounds of pet food!
Early Intervention - East Team EI made seatbelt pillows for women who have had a mastectomy. These pillows are aimed to make the seatbelt more comfortable. All items were donated to a Cancer center.
Early Head Start Childcare Our childcare team volunteered at Tiny Tim's. They make toys for children who don't have toys. These toys are sent all over the world, including Primary Children's Hospital and even DDI Vantage. Our team helped by tracing, wheeling, and painting the cars.
Value Awards
Coachable - Erin P.
Hardworking - Kellie L.
Dependable - Chandra S.
Good Communicator - Nichole J.
Positive Attitude - Jaelyn R.
Award Ceremony 5 Year Awards
10 Year Awards
15 Year Awards
20 Year Awards
Above and Beyond Awards
Rookie of the Year Award was presented to Merry L.
This award is presented annually to an employee with no more than two years of employment at DDI Vantage, who has made an immediate positive impact on the work done by DDI Vantage.
Vision Award was presented to Nigeria N. Shela Mason was always kind, compassionate, devoted, and cared deeply for her clients and coworkers. In her memory, this award is presented to a current employee who exemplifies the traits Shela possessed through her 13 years of service to the organization.
Pearl Award was presented to Angelica C. Pearl Patrick served faithfully as a volunteer at DDI Vantage for 18 years. In her honor, this award has been presented annually since 2005 to a deserving employee with at least five years of employment at DDI Vantage, who is most representative of the service, integrity, and dedication shown by Ms.Patrick.
EL FIN