With Random Acts of Kindness Day occurring on February 17, we asked the Houston’s Community to highlight acts of kindness, helpfulness, and goodwill seen around the office, in the warehouses, in stores, on the road, and out in the field.

Though it’s well established that kindness is woven into the fabric of our working environment here at Houston’s and HTrans – shining a brighter spotlight on the examples of people who go above and beyond can only serve as an extra positive reminder of the great environment we all create here together.

Here are some examples the Houston’s Community shared:

The Accounting Team and HR Team – for helping with holiday payrolls at the end of 2022. Stepping up with kindness helped through some stress.

The person who brought in the office fish!

Parisa Elahian – for being a saint and letting me use her assigned parking spot, before the change to open parking.

Whitley Turner – for taking responsibility for feeding “Huey,” the office fish. It’s above and beyond what she is asked to do, and her name is one of the most frequently seen on the “Who Fed Huey” chart.

Virg Cuff – for purchasing a coat this winter for a person in need of one.

Jenna Jay – for being patient with my training skills!

Tom DeGhetto – I noticed he went out of his way to assist another team member in bringing heavy, cumbersome items from downstairs to the upstairs workspace. Your kind gesture didn’t go unseen!

Jenny Johnston – I commented on her purse the other day, and a few days later she brought in her spare and gave it to me. Jenny, you’re too sweet and I appreciate you.

Austin Parrish– He sent me a cookie gift card for all the hard work I’ve been doing. It was MUCH appreciated! Thanks Austin!

Read more about the Houston’s Community on the Houston’s Blog.

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Pacific Northwest Outreach, Community partner

More than 40 years ago by Don Cline founded Pacific NW Outreach with the mission of “working hand in hand with Native Americans… physically and spiritually.” Located in Gresham, Oregon, the nonprofit organization aims to spread the Word of God to Native Americans while also providing physical assistance to relieve pain and hunger.

The organization is not sponsored or supported by any particular denomination, church, or agency; instead, it is funded through donations made by the local community. They collect and distribute food, clothing, vehicles, furniture, and other household items that have all proven to be very effective in meeting the needs of minorities who have historically experienced great difficulty in adjusting to a different culture and society. Commodity items are distributed to communities across the Pacific Northwest on multiple eighteen-wheelers.

Pacific NW Outreach also operates a Community Store in Gresham, Oregon that serves the greater Portland and Vancouver areas. Customers enjoy a wide selection of goods – from groceries to household goods – at a low price. Sales from the Community Store help provide the financial support necessary to fulfill the organization’s mission in outlying communities.

Houston’s is happy to support Pacific NW Outreach with a donation including a Torani Real Fruit Lemonade and Real Cream, Two Leaves and a Bud tea, and a variety of olives, onions, sauces, and syrups. Donations such as this one benefit many local communities directly and through sales at the Community Store.

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Images: Blue Hills Church Food Pantry facebook page

Blue Hills Church in Kansas City is committed to being “A place to love. A place to grow. A place to experience God.” As such, they are also committed to the spiritual growth and development, educational training, economic empowerment, and social advocacy of their local community.

As a part of their commitment to their local community, Blue Hills Church started a food pantry to benefit those in need within their congregation and community. They work in conjunction with Harvesters Community Food Network (another Houston’s donation recipient) and other independent donations.

Houston’s was able to provide Blue Hills with a variety of Monin and Torani syrups, Torani Real Fruit Lemonade, Sipp soda, and Umpqua Oats Oatmeal. The nearly 260-pounds of donations will help fill the food pantry and provide warm/cold beverages for community members in need.

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Houston’s is proud to donate sixteen cases of cold brew coffee and more than one hundred sixty cases of powdered smoothie mix to assist in local relief efforts. Houston’s donation totaled nearly 2,500 pounds. This product, along with other donations, is available made available at the Sunshine Divisions’ two locations in the Portland-Metro area. Donations are used to build food boxes that are kept at every local police precinct, and are made available 24 hours a day, through partnership with the Portland Police Bureau. Bulk food and food box contributions are passed along to more than twenty local hunger relief non-profits in Clackamas, Clark, Washington, and Multnomah counties.

Houston’s continues to look for opportunities to assist our local communities through organizations such as the Sunshine Division. The impact of our donations is intensified by organizations like this that take the product and spread it throughout both the local community and outlying areas. It’s heartwarming to know that we can utilize our vast resources to further assist individuals, children, and families of all sizes.

For more information on the Sunshine Division visit www.sunshinedivision.org or call their message information line at 503-823-2102.

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Harvesters, photo: harvesters.org

Houston’s has a long-standing relationship with Harvesters Community Food Network in Kansas City, Missouri. We recently partnered with them to donate fifty-eight cases of product to benefit Harvesters mission to “feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow.” Houston’s donated cases of consumable product from multiple vendors including Umpqua Oats, Mott’s/IBC, Ocean Spray, Dawn, and Monbana.

As a certified member of Feeding America, Harvesters is a nonprofit, regional food bank operating two facilities that serve 26-counties across northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri. In addition to being named Food Bank of the Year in 2011, Harvesters is one of Feeding America’s five regional disaster relief staging areas, meaning they continually store ample food, water, and cleaning supplies to be sent to a disaster relief sites at a moments notice.

Houston’s is always proud to partner with Harvesters as they share our small company values, but important impact that giving back has in the local community.

To learn more about Harvesters, visit www.harvesters.org.

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OCO’s primarily goal is to “relieve hunger and assist low-income families with children both locally and out of state.”
Houston’s is proud to contribute to OCO’s mission. We recently donated cases of Monbana Chocolaterie products enabling the children to indulge in a sweet treat – whether it be a cup of hot cocoa on these cold, rainy days, or a tasty fruit smoothie.

Not to fret, we’re not just loading children up on sugar! Monbana Chocolaterie products are made with real milk, cocoa, and yogurt powders as well as chunks of real dried fruit.

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Houston’s participates in the 2017 Fox 12 Les Schwab Tire Center Toy drive to deliver joy to local children

Houston’s Wilsonville employees participated in the Fox 12 and Les Schwab Tire Centers Toy Drive for the second consecutive year. The goal of the toy drive is to help children and families in our local area with the donation of new, unwrapped toys. All of the donation were distributed to families in need through local non-profit organizations.

“Through the generosity of our employees, we were able to deliver more than 50 toys to our local Wilsonville Les Schwab Tire Center,” says Annette Kramer, Admin Manager. Everything from games and sports equipment for older kids, to cars and stuffed animals for the younger children were left under our lobby Christmas tree to be delivered to boys and girls in our local area in time for Christm

as.

Fox 12 and Les Schwab Tire Centers partnered for the first time back in 2012 as each company was celebrating it’s 60th anniversary. Every year since, the companies have partnered to collect thousands of toys and fill the Fox 12 news studio to the brim.

Houston’s is honored to be a contributor to our local community in this capacity and bring smiles to children and their families during the holiday season, and we’re looking forward to contributing for many years to come.

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Image: Courtney Stroup

Our Wilsonville Warehouse played host to the Café de Crepe food truck on Thursday, January 26^th. The food truck/catering company recently reached out to Houston’s about the opportunity to offer our employees an escape from the usual, local lunch offering. For two hours, Café de Crepe offered a wide variety of specialty crepes including the popular Breakfast Crepe (egg, cheddar, maple syrup, and choice of ham or smoked turkey sausage), the Voltaire (apple wood smoked ham, swiss, provolone, Oregon honey), and the Madeline (homemade sweet cream, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream).

Image: Courtney Stroup

While the food truck was out of Cafe de Crepe’s chocolate hazelnut spread before even opening in our parking lot, the crepes were a hit! There was rarely a moment with less than five
people braving the cold temperatures and waiting in line. According to the food truck operator/cook, Houston’s ran Café de Crepe completely out of strawberries.

Many employees made multiple trips out to the truck while it was here. And some employees (who shall remain nameless) where even seen double-fisting crepes on the way back into the building. Just goes to show we know good food when we taste it! Two thumbs up for Café de Crepe!

Image: Courtney Stroup

Photos from the event can be found on our Houston’s facebook page. And keep an ear out for when the Café de Crepe food truck might be returning to Houston’s! In the meantime, visit Café de Crepe online at http://www.cafedecrepe.com/ or find them on facebook to see where the food truck will be parked next.

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