Pretty ducking busy. Man, the people of EDA have accomplished a lot and I’ve had a hard time keeping all my ducks in a row!
Trying to keep all the new names and faces that have joined us has become a full-time job for me. EDA has grown so much, and you may not know this, but ducks have a really difficult time recognizing human names and faces.
EDA’s Safety Department has continued to grow, and now has five full-time safety professionals, tasked with getting everybody safely home to their nest. One of the ways our safety team worked to limit sprains and strains was by implementing a stretch and flex program at the beginning of the workday. The team’s overall successes and achievement were also recognized with a Gold Highwire Safety Award.
EDA Cares continued relationships with many charities from previous years added a few exciting nonprofits to the mix.
This year, over 80 employees from across EDA participated in a variety of EDA Cares events. Their work helped numerous individuals at EDA charities of choice through monetary contributions, in-kind services, and much needed personal items throughout 2023. Our annual EDA Cares Golf Outing was a huge success among both employees and sponsors and helped raise over $65,000 for Cares charities.
In total, we completed 14 charity projects that had a positive impact on countless lives. We are always looking for ways to give back to our community and appreciate everyone who volunteered their time to support these great causes. As always, 100% of the money and items raised goes directly to our charities of choice.
EDA employees are certainly lucky ducks! First, employees rang in 2023 at our New Year Kickoff Party. This event, held at the Fuge in Warminster, was lots of fun with great food, drinks, and carnival themed games and entertainment.
In addition, our Fun Committee held events including the annual fishing trip, Barcade, a Phillies tailgate, glow in the dark mini golf, and our annual family picnic which were great opportunities to connect with colleagues and unwind. We also continued to expand the reach of our events to our employees in the North Region with axe throwing and bowling events taking place in North Jersey.
The EDA Journey continued to be the number one place for our flock to receive company news and updates. In addition, we continued to share news outside of the Journey with the EDA Duck Line (texting) and emails to ensure that all our employees receive news of where they are most present. Our semi-annual Town Hall remains a staple to both EDA’s field and office employees to come together for a formal program and entertainment. For the second year, we split our Town Hall’s between the PA and North Jersey regions, to give everybody at an EDA an opportunity to attend these important events.
I’m glad you asked! I’m sure you have noticed that I attended several events this year. Many people were surprised that I stand at over seven feet tall and have fur…yes, soft yellow fur! I loved getting to meet the EDA community this year and can’t wait to see everyone again in 2024.
Smile, Laugh, Enjoy Life. Sometimes you have to enjoy the simple things in life. For me that is floating around and getting some sunlight in the pond or coming out to take pictures and meet our employees at EDA events. Keeping our people and their families happy is what life is all about and I love to be just a small part of that.