BHS Makes Donation to Local Breast Cancer Research Advocacy Group

The entire BHS staff teams up to donate money to breast cancer research and education advocacy group in the name of loved ones.

The staff of Battery Handling Systems, Inc. (BHS) took National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to heart. As a team, they raised over $1000 for the St. Louis Breast Cancer Coalition this October in a company-wide donation drive. Personnel were encouraged to donate $1 per work day and each dollar was matched by BHS.

The St. Louis Breast Cancer Coalition is a chapter of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, based in Washington D.C. BHS Marketing Manager, Katy Cortinovis, says that SLBCC was an easy choice “because of their focus on research and education.” She continues to connect the SLBCC mission with BHS corporate values, “The BHS mission is to do the right research for our products and to educate our users about our industry. We love an organization with the same passion for research and education, especially one whose successes are so important. How could we not support them?”

Additionally, Ms. Cortinovis notes the importance of finding local organizations to support, “Our research always begins locally. We prefer to help the smaller organizations that could use a boost. We are proud to be located in St. Louis and believe in supporting organizations that keep St. Louis ‘on the map’ of established trailblazers.”

Philanthropic giving is an important part of the culture of BHS. Ms. Cortinovis says each year the company participates in an adopt-a-family program during the holidays and conducts several other donation drives throughout the year. BHS matches, dollar for dollar, the donations by their team members during these drives. Ms. Cortinovis describes the BHS view on philanthropy as “a vital part of team building.” She says, “We all share a common business goal, so coming together for the common goal of supporting and benefitting our community makes us even stronger as an enterprise.”

Ms. Cortinovis notes that BHS thanks the giving nature of their employees by allowing a dress-out day for each dollar donated, “BHS maintains a professional work environment by dressing in business attire throughout the work week. We like to make drives like this even more fun by offering a jeans day for every dollar that an employee donates in that month.” She adds that this incentive is really “just a perk” and notes that many employees donate well over the $1 per day suggestion. “This kind of giving is so invigorating for us as a company,” she says, “Individually, we are searching for ways to help, so it is a wonderful thing when we can get together to raise awareness and funds for a great cause.“

BHS’s heartfelt donation was dedicated to the families and friends of all BHS employees. Ms. Cortinovis says, “Breast Cancer is such a far reaching disease. We felt compelled to give, in memory of all of our loved ones, to an organization with a far reaching mission.”

At the end of the month, the entire team took a photo together in pink t-shirts to show solidarity and support for cancer survivors. BHS has shared the photo on several social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter.