Suddenlink FYI

Congressman Rodney Alexander (left) watches as a representative from Peabody Magnet High School accepts a check from Tony Cifelli, Suddenlink, and Jayne Wright, Food Bank of Central Louisiana.

Building on its successful food drive last fall, Suddenlink supported the 2008 spring food drive helmed by U.S. Congressman Rodney Alexander, benefitting the Food Bank of Central Louisiana.

Conducted April 7 to 25, the program (”Can Share”) involved schools in seven Central Louisiana parishes and achieved record results.

Each year, Congressman Alexander awards a certificate to the school that collects the most food for the annual drive. This year, Suddenlink added an incentive by offering financial rewards to the top three teams in each category: high school, middle school, and elementary school. As a result, this year’s drive collected approximately 9,000 pounds of non-perishable food items, more than three times the usual amount.

The top collector was Peabody Magnet High School in Alexandria. On May 16, Suddenlink Field System Manager Tony Cifelli, Congressman Alexander, and Food Bank Executive Director Jayne Wright held a cook-out for the Peabody ROTC, which spearheaded the school’s effort. There, they presented the group with a $500 check for its winning effort.

Earlier this month, Suddenlink’s Lake Charles, La., team extended special honors to three teachers during Calcasieu Parish Teacher Appreciation Week — one aspect of the team’s longstanding involvement in the Partners in Education (PIE) program with area schools.

Pictured above (from left), the honored teachers include Cynthia Stewart, a computer-aided instruction lab manager, and Theresa Hardy, a pre-kindergarten teacher, both from J.J. Johnson Elementary School; and Rachel Taylor, a third-grade teacher from M.J. Kaufman Elementary School.

All three educators received recognition plaques and gift packages for Suddenlink services.

As long-time supporters of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fundraiser, members of Suddenlink’s Parkersburg, W. Va., team added a twist (and a cut) to their participation this year.

On April, 5, nine employees, three of their children and several friends went to a local hair salon to donate their ponytails to Locks of Love, a program that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair as a result of cancer treatments.

When the cutting was done, 36 ponytails totaling 399 inches (more than 33 feet) were headed to Locks of Love. The Suddenlink-Parkersburg team also held a bake sale during the clipping, raising additional money for the Relay for Life event, which will be held locally on May 16 and 17.

In January, Suddenlink’s Gainesville, Texas, employees conducted a “Slippers For Seniors” drive, collecting nearly 200 pairs of house shoes for area nursing-home residents. They followed up that effort in February with their second annual drive to benefit a local charity devoted to moms and infants, collecting more than 2,700 diapers and nearly 1,400 baby wipes.

This is the first in an occasional series of profiles of Suddenlink employees who donate time to worthwhile causes in the communities where they live and work.

Suddenlink’s DeAnna Cottrell is a business support technician on the I.T. Helpdesk in St. Louis. Outside of work, she volunteers significant time to lead and mentor a local team of high-school-age students who participate in FIRST, a national group devoted to inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering.

From Feb. 28 through March 1, DeAnna’s team will be competing in the 2008 St. Louis Regional robotics competition organized by FIRST, one of 41 such regional competitions held across the country from late Feburary through end of March.

Here’s wishing DeAnna and her team the very best of luck as they put their robots to the test. Who knows – maybe some of them will eventually seek careers in cable broadbanding engineering.

Visit the FIRST Web site to learn more about what the organization does, how to get involved, and where and when other regional competitions are scheduled.

When Suddenlink’s Tony Cifelli — field system manager, Alexandria, La. — attended a group planning meeting in March 2007, peer pressure almost convinced him to ignore his first instincts.

Of 15 Suddenlink cable systems represented at that meeting, 12 decided to focus their primary 2007 community programs on the hot topic of “Internet Safety.” But Tony hesitated, approaching the meeting facilitator during a break.

“We did this food bank program a few years back and it was exciting to see how everyone came together to support it,” he said. “The need for that type of program is even greater now. I’d really like our team to focus on that issue. What do you think?”

The facilitator responded that Tony knew his community better than anyone else in the room, so he should trust his knowledge and act accordingly.

What Tony knew was that Central Louisiana has one of the highest levels of “food insecurity” in the country, with an estimated 30 percent of need families are often forced to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care.

For those and other reasons, Tony followed the facilitator’s advice, trusted his knowledge, and together with colleagues both in and outside Alexandria, designed and launched the “Connecting to Those in Need” campaign. By Thanksgiving 2007, the campaign had netted more than six tons of non-perishable food items for the Food Bank of Central Louisiana, with another drive planned for the spring to keep the momentum going. Moreover, Food Bank officials reported a measureable increase in the number of other organizations wanting to host food drives on its behalf and an increase in requests for Food Bank speakers at church, community, and corporate events.

The results were far too meaningful to ignore: The Food Bank declared Suddenlink its “2007 Corporate Partner of the Year.” The Louisiana cable association granted the Alexandria team a Community Service Award and Tony a coveted President’s Award. And just last week the company learned that the “Connecting to Those in Need” campaign was a finalist for the industry’s highest honor for such programs, a Beacon Award.

Kudos to Tony for following his heart, and to everyone else who contributed to this best-in-class effort.