Family has long been rooted within Bay Alarm’s company culture.

This commitment—also known as the BAY WAY—was on full display during the 2020 holiday season, when Bay Alarm launched a company-wide employee giving campaign.

“As a family-owned business, we really wanted to do something to help families. Make-A-Wish was a natural choice for us,” says Bay Alarm CEO Jack Unroe.

Selecting Make-A-Wish as the campaign beneficiary was a special opportunity for Unroe. He witnessed first-hand the tremendous impact Make-A-Wish can have on a community when he partnered with the wish-granting organization at a previous role. Bay Alarm created a sweepstakes program, where employees could make a donation and be entered into a drawing for a chance to win fun prizes.

The campaign included 17 Bay Alarm offices, hundreds of employees, and benefitted eight Make-A-Wish chapters, including our Greater Bay Area chapter.

The initial goal of $20,000—distributed between the participating chapters— would be enough to grant two wishes for children with critical illnesses. Bay Alarm says they bring “100% commitment, 0% quit” to every job, every day. Employees brought that same spirit to their fundraising.

During the two-week-long campaign, Bay Alarm employees pushed one another to give generously and continue to see how far they could raise the bar. Inspections coordinator Elizabeth Zucker led the efforts of Bay Alarm’s Central Station in Concord. Zucker has always had a passion for charity involvement and was determined to make this a successful campaign.

“When we focus on somebody else and on someone else’s issues that they’re having and we can be a part of helping them, we set ourselves up for a future success,” Zucker says.

In addition to giving updates and encouragement to the team, Zucker came up with a creative incentive to keep her colleagues motivated. For every $5 donated, she provided a Christmas bow to supporters. Her December was quickly booked up with bow making—she ended up creating over 200 bows to give to donors.

Bay Alarm employees continued to show off their philanthropic spirit and by the end of the campaign had raised over $50,000, enough to grant five wishes, with over $30,000 raised here in the Bay Area. In addition to this, Bay Alarm also served as a Platinum Record Sponsor at Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area’s Evening of Wishes virtual gala on April 14, with employees donating another $27,000.

“We are so thankful to our amazing partners at Bay Alarm for their inspiring campaign to benefit our wish kids,” says Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area CEO Betsy Biern. “Last year was challenging for us all, but it's been particularly hard on our wish families. The generosity of Bay Alarm employees brought so much hope and optimism.”

Even after the fundraiser formally came to a close, Bay Alarm employees still feel the impact of the campaign. They are heartened to know that their funds will help families in their communities find joy during a difficult time.

“The children Make-A-Wish help with their program go through so much, have difficult challenges, and we are happy to help bring some joy to the kids and their families,” says Bay Alarm COO Tim Westphal. “As a family-owned company, we understand how important family is. When we hear stories of a child’s wish being granted, we are grateful that we get to help out!”