Make it a habit
Wilson doesn’t regard charitable giving as an expense. He views
it as an investment. That’s why, even in the midst of a Chapter 11
bankruptcy reorganization eight years ago, Safelite didn’t elimi-
nate the line item earmarked for philanthropy.
“While we didn’t give as much then as we do now, we still gave,”
Wilson says.
“We’ve been through good times, bad times, financial ups and
downs, but we’ve always had that as a key element of our corporate fabric,” says J.R. “Randy” Randolph, a vice president at
Safelite, who also chairs the employee committee overseeing the
Safelite Charitable Foundation. “I’ve been with this company for
15 years, and it’s always been a part of the fabric of the company
and has just gotten stronger and stronger.”
Even when the company was sold to a competitor last year,
Safelite never wavered from its commitment to charity.
“The acquisition of our company by Belron S.A. was something
that created even further alignment around the need to participate
in charities,” Wilson says. “We saw that as a continuation and a
major opportunity for us.”
Belron S.A. has been a long-time supporter of an organization called
MaAfrika Tikkum, which helps disadvantaged and impoverished
communities in South Africa, the country where Belron was
founded. Each August, Belron sponsors a large corporate team at
the London Triathlon to raise money for that charity. This past
August, as a way to help integrate the Safelite and Belron cultures,
the parent company invited Safelite employees to participate in
this overseas event.
“We had a lot of people who wanted to volunteer for that
triathlon,” Wilson says. “But we narrowed it down to six.”
Those six were among a contingency of 500 Belron employees
from all over the world — including the CEO of Belron S.A. — who
competed in the triathlon.
“That’s a good example of the parent company reaching out to us
to participate,” Wilson says. “We got involved in what their efforts
were, and it made an impression throughout our organization.”
That’s exactly the sort of thing Wilson hopes to do to expand
Safelite’s charitable giving throughout all its U.S. locations.
“For us, the next phase is how do we take this culture and permeate it further into our company?” he says, noting the Safelite
Charitable Foundation only raises and gives funds in Central Ohio
right now. “Our company is in all 50 states. Probably a third of our
payroll is in Ohio, so a big piece of our company is still outside the
Ohio area.
“I think we’re doing a pretty good job here. But if we are successful in getting this vision of more community involvement
and more associate participation throughout the company, if we
can get the rest of the company engaged in an equally meaningful way, it’s going to raise our opportunity and our potential to
do even more.”