LYNN — Helping to make Christmas a little brighter for the needy, General Electric Co. workers donated $35,000 to Item Santa.
The GE Employees’ Good Neighbor Fund, founded more than 65 years ago, has donated millions for good causes on the North Shore.
“When we hire new employees, we let them know about the fund and hopefully they sign up for payroll deductions for a percentage of their pay or a specific amount,” said Richard Gorham, a GE Aviation spokesman.
Walter Guptill, a GE cost analyst and treasurer of the fund, said all the donations are from employees and 100 percent of the funds go to the cause.
The cash is used to fund schools, health and human services, environmental causes, shelters, and children. Item Santa is the single biggest charity the employees donate to, GE said.
“The phrase that goes along with it is: Give once for all,” Guptill said. “Instead of having all kinds of solicitations from different agencies in the door, we encourage employees to sign up for the Neighbor Fund and we will make the allocations on their behalf.”
Gorham said while the fund donates less to charity compared to past years when there were many more GE employees, it still makes a difference in people’s lives.
“At one time the annual donations were in the seven figures,” Guptill said. “But our mission hasn’t changed.”
GE’s contribution brought the total donations to Item Santa to $90,809.
- The final list of contributors to the fund include:
- Gripsholm Lodge #83, $50
- Happy Holidays to All! Seniors friend, Bob Gallucci, $50
- Mimi, John & Nils from Mary Kelter Strom, $30
- For Norman and Patricia Harrie, In lieu of gifts, $50
- In memory of Donna Boudreau from Janice Boudreau, $15
