Holiday Celebrations at West Yost
Happy Holidays and Goodbye to 2020!
If you haven’t had a holiday celebration with your team, it’s not too late! Even during a Pandemic, there is still magic in the air. At West Yost we enjoy surprises that accomplish two goals: showing our appreciation and giving back.
Like many of you, we are used to celebrating this treasured time by attending beautiful parties, connecting with our team members, and spending time with our clients, all to celebrate the close of the year or our chosen holiday. The challenge this year was how to celebrate safely? Like our manifesto says: we solve challenging problems.
What did we do? We produced a virtual holiday party and included engaging activities.
Charitable Giving
December Charity
We showcased our holiday card and announced our December Charity, MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement). MESA was recommended by West Yost’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) group. If you’ve never heard of MESA before, we encourage you to learn more about this award winning program here.
30th Anniversary Giving
Together, we reflected on the year-round generosity in celebration of our 30th Anniversary which includes contributions to the following Charities:
STEM:
- Square Root Academy
- MESA, AZ, CA, and OR
Resiliency:
- Feeding America
- Monetary donations to 30 food banks in AZ, CA, and OR
- CA Fire Foundation
- American Red Cross Chapters in Oregon
We had FUN!
Holiday Raffle:
Our Business Sector Leaders hosted a holiday raffle where 16 of our teammates won prizes, including local artisan foods, a projector and screen combination, a drone, Beats by Dre, and a YETI cooler (we’re so cool)!
Surprise Gift Opening:
We coordinated a ~200 person simultaneous virtually hosted gift opening, where our team opened packages on Mircosoft Teams that were sent prior to their homes. They opened a jingly package that contained an Amazon Gift Card, Marmot Vest, and branded face masks from ChicoBag (all new favorites among our team). These high-quality products are a reflection of the experience our clients receive from West Yost.
More Surprises…
in support and recognition of shared successes in 2020:
Recognizing our Team’s Resilience:
We took a moment to appreciate how nimble and strong we are at West Yost. Some of us are experiencing overwhelming loneliness, and others the exact opposite. Our support for each other has brought us to a successful year-end and a joyful celebration.
Disaster Relief Support (surprise):
In recognition of additional financial burdens that our team members have experienced, Charles Duncan, President and CEO, surprised us with a Disaster Relief Monetary bonus provided by West Yost. This offers support for increased financial costs COVID-19 has brought, this includes items like childcare, utility bills, added medical costs, and other items. The flood of thank-yous and excitement in the meeting’s chat feed was inspiring and humbling, to say the least.
We recognize the challenges this year has brought us, and we are proud of how our team has navigated these challenges and ultimately are thriving under the circumstances.
What We Can Expect for 2021
Looking forward to next year, we’re eagerly anticipating better days ahead with Town Halls hosted by Charles and a company-wide showing of “Brave Blue World” by way of a Netflix Party. One thing we can be grateful for from the pandemic is how it has forced us to evolve technologically and taught us some new tricks in the virtual space.
We at West Yost are grateful for our culture and community, and the smiling faces we saw at our year-end holiday party (safely and virtually). I am thankful for all the willing participants on our leadership team that partnered with us to make our party special and memorable.
We wish you a happy holiday season and the close of 2020. We celebrate the beginning of a new year and the hope it brings to us all. Our wish is that this inspires and encourages you to find ways to connect and celebrate safely with your colleagues, family, and friends.