Making Holiday Wishes Come True - WSI Staff Adopt a Family in Need -

December 21, 2007 - At the company headquarters of WSI, the world’s leading provider of Internet Solutions to small and medium sized businesses, staff members guided by the company’s social committee have come together to help another family in need. Participating in the “WSI Christmas Wish” initiative, staff members nominated and selected a homeless family of a single-mother with four young children. A company-wide donation and “gift” collection drive is bringing in clothes, bed linen, toys, books and other essentials to help this unfortunate family feel special and loved. In addition to opening their hearts to this worthy cause, WSI employees have also been dipping generously into their pockets to collect funds that the family could use towards renting a home.

Ron McArthur, president of WSI says, “While we may individually take part in many acts of kindness during the holiday season, this year, we thought about coming together as the WSI family, to help another family in need. Our social committee put their heads together and agreed that if we could all make a difference to just one less fortunate family, we would be blessed with the tremendous reward that generosity has to offer. That is how the “WSI Christmas Wish” initiative was born; to connect with our “adopted family” and offer them the sense of celebration and blessing that we enjoy!”

WSI is a founding partner and proud supporter of Make Child Poverty History (MCPH), a global corporate outreach program. Amongst the many activities that WSI undertakes throughout the year to raise funds for MCPH, the “WSI Christmas Wish” initiative is the closing one for this year. The WSI social committee put out a communication to all staff asking them to submit a story and nominate a family in need or individual they knew, such as a single mother or father who they felt would be a worthy recipient of this initiative. Amongst several submissions, the one that stood out was the story of a recently widowed, single-mother with four children aged 5-17, the youngest girl in a wheelchair for life and the only son, 14, being mentally challenged. Unable to pay the rent, the family was evicted from their apartment after the father’s death in a tragic accident.

A local non-profit charitable organization has been supporting the family with grief counseling. The Counselor in charge of this particular family says, “The WSI family is working with heart and mind to find ways that will not only fill the family’s immediate needs of food and shelter but also provide them with warm clothing, winter bedding and Christmas gifts so that the four children don’t think Santa forgot about them! We are very touched by the response and heart-warming enthusiasm shown by WSI. We hope that the “WSI Christmas Wish” initiative will be an inspiring example for many other worthy corporations to follow. There are one too many unfortunate and under-privileged families but the good news is that there are even more blessed individuals with big hearts. All it takes is a simple idea to bring these caring people together as they reach out and touch the less fortunate to make a difference, one step at a time.”