Recently LCIHCS was honoured to receive a generous donation on behalf of Benjamin van der Ham, the 2020 Stover Award Winner at Eaton Industries Canada’s distribution centre in Perth. Ben was “honoured to be nominated” by his peers for the award and was “humbled” to be the recipient because he doesn’t believe he is doing anything special.
Eaton is a huge multinational power management company which employs 97,000 people in over 100 countries with a mission to “improve quality of life and the environment” through its work. Improving the quality of life starts at home – Eaton is renowned for being a big supporter of the communities wherever their sites are located.
Ben explained the Stover Award is named for former Eaton Chairman (1986-1991) James R. Stover who was known for his leadership and support of community initiatives to help the less fortunate. Eaton employees from facilities all over the world are nominated for the award, which includes a donation in the recipient’s name to a community organization of their choice.
In its Annual Report, Eaton states it has a commitment to what matters and knows in order to be successful, an inclusive, safe and engaging workplace environment needs to be created. To do this, Eaton sponsors and promotes Inclusion Employee Resource Groups, stating it is proud to invest in and give back to the communities where they live and work. Ben has been involved in the community involvement committees at Eaton in Perth. He has been a member of the WAVE group which stands for Women Adding Value at Eaton. “Eaton is a big supporter of inclusion and being an inclusive and diverse company,” Ben explained. From the WAVE group came the International Women’s Day Committee, another group Ben is involved with. This committee hosts an annual International Women’s Day celebration to recognize all of the women on site in Perth. The group has also hosted a winter coat drive to donate to the Salvation Army, a Purse Project to donate items to women in need in the community, and a Breast Cancer Awareness event in October.
When asked about his choice to donate the prize money to LCIHCS, Ben said “It’s a tremendous service for people going through things most of us are lucky enough never to experience”. Last fall, Brianne Luckasavitch, our Public Educator and Victim Advocate, spoke to a group at Eaton. Ben was moved by “the situation a lot of women are in and the struggle a lot of them have when they get the courage to leave a difficult situation”. Ben says “a lot of the women don’t have a lot and haven’t had much control over their own lives. We can do a little thing to help out, but it is going to have an immediate impact as they are struggling through things that most of us can’t even fathom”.
Eaton has ranked in the Top 50 of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens in Corporate Responsibility Magazine for six consecutive years. It is clear they value their communities and have instilled the importance of community mindedness into its employees. As Ben says, “community involvement makes a more rounded work place – it’s not all about what we’re shipping out today. There are people in the community who aren’t as fortunate as we are and we need to recognize that if we can”. Ben’s donation to LCIHCS has been so appreciated and will go directly to our community support programs. Although Ben may not feel as though he is doing anything special, his efforts have made a positive impact on the community and our agency and we are so grateful.
We believe Ben said it best himself: “It doesn’t have to be a big initiative to make a difference, a small contribution can make a big impact in someone’s life”.
