The goal of October Research, LLC’s 2014 National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) is to help settlement services companies build their businesses and grow their bottom line, but conference goers took time out from networking and attending panel discussions Monday to focus on a more important goal — helping restore the city of New Orleans, one nut and bolt at a time.
The third-annual “Make a Child Smile” charity event, sponsored by Winward Consulting | Software LLC, saw attendees across industries roll up their sleeves to help assemble 30 bikes that will be donated, along with corresponding helmets, to New Orleans children in need, some of whom were on hand to be presented with the bikes at Tuesday’s conference.
The bikes are being donated through the St. Bernard Project, a New Orleans-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping disaster-impacted communities get back on their feet.
“We are thrilled to be hosting the ‘Make a Child Smile’ event for the third year in a row thanks to the generosity of Windward Consulting,” said Erica Meyer, chief executive officer and publisher of October Research, LLC. “Seeing so many people take time out of their schedule to help give back to our host city was tremendous, and I couldn’t think of a better organization to be affiliated with than the St. Bernard Project, an organization who does so much for so many.”
The St. Bernard Project was founded in 2006 by Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg, a teacher and lawyer, respectively, from Washington, D.C. McCartney and Rosenburg saw the devastation of Hurricane Katrina first-hand on a month-long service trip shortly after the disaster and made it their mission to help rebuild the city.
With the help of more than 41,000 volunteers, the St. Bernard Project has rebuilt more than 445 homes in the Greater New Orleans area since 2006.
“We at Windward feel very privileged and honored to sponsor the annual ‘Make a Child Smile’ charity bike-building event,” said Curt Szymanski, president of Winward Consulting. “This is our third year sponsoring the event, and it is truly a unique opportunity to contribute to such a deserving cause while also coming together with other attendees for such a fun event. We would like to thank those who helped assemble the 30 bikes, and are excited to deliver them to the children of the St. Bernard Project; getting the chance to see the kids realize the bikes are theirs and ride them around is special. We look forward to continuing our partnership with October Research to ensure the bike event happens for years to come.”
The St. Bernard Project presented five of the bikes to Keyana Maxwell Tuesday, whose five children were brought on stage to receive them. The St. Bernard Project is helping rehabilitate Maxwell’s late father’s home that was damaged in Katrina. Because of the help of the Project, Maxwell will soon be able to move her family back into the home.
“We are very, very thrilled to be receiving these bikes, and we know that our families and their children are just going to have the most fun riding them in their neighborhoods,” said Dulcie Shepherd, development associate at the St. Bernard Project.