Summary of the Week

It is difficult to express the sincere, heart-felt appreciation we have for our direct support professionals.  These are people who work directly with our clients in finding meaningful employment and living in their communities.  In many ways, Direct Support Professionals are the people most empowered to carry out Service Alternatives’ vision of advancing the potential for our communities, customers and ourselves.  Through direct engagement and support, these are the people who support others in finding meaningful employment, attaining secure housing, and achieving their dreams. With over 360 direct support professionals employed with Service Alternatives, we sought ways to show our gratitude.

Gift Baskets and Thank You Cards

We produced gift baskets with delightful sundries for our direct support professionals.  These gift baskets were sent to administrative offices so that managers could bring them to the work-sites to distribute gifts. We also created a thank you card signed by every member of the Service Alternatives Executive Team and mailed them directly to each person.

The Daily Raffle Results

We held a daily raffle for additional gifts for our direct support professionals.  These gifts included Starbucks gift cards, movie vouchers, gas cards, Amazon Kindle Fires, and Amazon gift cards.  These drawings occurred throughout the state and were broadcast live on Facebook.  You can view the drawings on our Facebook page.  (If you’re not already a subscriber, take a moment to like the page to get updates from our team including the hottest new job openings, current happenings, and notifications about our Blog posts.)

The results of our raffle can be seen below.  If you see your name and have not been contacted, please reach out to your manager so we can ensure you receive your prize.

The Journey of The Banker’s Box

There are many great stories about the coordination, teamwork, and care that went into making our celebration of direct support professionals week a reality.  While these efforts could never compare to the steadfast dedication of our direct support professionals we thought it would be worth sharing the journey of the Banker’s Box containing the names of our staff for the drawing.

• On Monday, the box began in our Burlington office and made its way south on I-5 for a second drawing next to the interstate.
• On Tuesday, the box was in Lynnwood for both drawings but then made its way east.
• On Wednesday, the drawing occurred at the Community Employment Services All-Staff gathering in Ellensburg.
• On Thursday, the drawing occurred in Vancouver on the first day’s pilot for our Emerging Leaders Training Series.
• On Friday, the box returned to Lynnwood for one final drawing.

All-in-all the box traveled over 550 miles in one week!

We were happy to celebrate this year’s Direct Support Professionals Week and look forward to next year!

– Rob