Community

The SCOOTER Store has a strong belief in the community and in helping others. The essence of our culture is demonstrated by the altruistic and ethical attitudes of our leaders and employees.

One of our Core Ideologies, Be Phenomenal, guides us to "pursue rapid and continuous improvement of each other, our business and ourselves." Our founder, president and CEO, Doug Harrison, is a phenomenal example of a servant/leader. Doug has been a member of the Rotary Club for 18 years. He demonstrates passionate concern for our employees; likewise, he values everyone's involvement in the community.

Employee-owners at The SCOOTER Store are encouraged to volunteer within the community and are paid for their time spent volunteering. Some companies have a policy limiting the number of hours an employee can volunteer during a month. However, at The SCOOTER Store, where our first Core Ideology is Always Do the Right Thing, there is no set maximum number of hours someone can volunteer.

Below are some examples of The SCOOTER Store's involvement in our community.

MS 150
Gift of Mobility Program
South Texas Blood & Tissue Center
American Cancer Society, New Braunfels
Comal County senior meal deliveries
Comal County Senior Center Thanksgiving Dinner
Susan G. Komen Foundation Walk for the Cure, Austin, TX
Frog Fest for Comal County Senior Center
High school booster clubs
Blue Santa
Children's Advocacy Center
Comal County Fair
American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Florida
American Cancer Society Relay for Life, New Braunfels
San Antonio Zoo
United Way of Comal County
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Remote locations throughout nation

New Braunfels, San Antonio, Austin:

MS 150

Each year, The SCOOTER Store donates $30,000 in in-kind donations to the Multiple Sclerosis Society in the Gulf Coast area. The in-kind donations include power chairs, service and other accessories for MS patients with mobility issues in the Gulf Coast area. Our employees also participate in this weekend-long bike ride from Houston to Austin. We average about 30 to 40 riders and 30 volunteers each year. In 2008, 52 riders from The SCOOTER Store raised $23,483.

Gift of Mobility Program

The SCOOTER Store Gift of Mobility Program is an internal program that was started by Doug and Susanna Harrison in December 2002. Since its inception, the outreach program has worked with organizations around the nation to donate more than $200,000 per year in power wheelchairs, scooters and manual wheelchairs. The people who receive these chairs have no money, insurance or family to care for them. Our donation enables them to enjoy their freedom and independence and helps restore their personal dignity. Without our help, they would be confined to their couch or bed or put in a nursing home. In 2008, we donated more than 175 power chairs, 16 scooters, batteries and service on units totaling more than $350,000.

South Texas Blood & Tissue Center

The blood bank comes to The SCOOTER Store at least once a quarter so that employees can give blood. They park here on our campus all day, and employees can donate blood as their schedules permit. We generally give more than 70 pints of blood each time they visit. According to STBTC, each pint of blood saves three lives.

American Cancer Society, New Braunfels

We have volunteers who help sponsor and organize the Huntsman's Ball in New Braunfels to help raise funds for and awareness of cancer every year. We have won the society award for the last four years for the company's years of commitment to aiding the fight against cancer through Doug and Susanna Harrison's and employee-owner contributions. The company donation is $10,000 per year and does not include other personal donations. Since 2005, we have been the title sponsor. The event raises between $150,000 and $200,000 each year for cancer awareness and research.

Comal County senior meal deliveries

Every Wednesday, The SCOOTER Store sends four volunteers to help deliver meals to senior citizens in New Braunfels. They pick up the prepared meals and take them to homes all over town. Many of these senior citizens would not eat if they did not have their meals delivered to their home. We have been doing this for eight years, and every year the number of volunteers grows.

Comal County Senior Center Thanksgiving Dinner

For the last couple of years, we have coordinated the Thanksgiving meal at the senior center in New Braunfels. The SCOOTER Store buys the turkeys and all the trimmings, complete with pumpkin pie, and our volunteers serve more than 500 seniors. Anyone over 55 is eligible to enjoy this free lunch.

Susan G. Komen Foundation Walk for the Cure, Austin, TX

The Komen Foundation is the global leader of the breast cancer movement, having invested more than $1 billion since its inception in 1982. Each year, we sponsor a team of hundreds that participates in the Susan G. Komen Walk in Austin. The SCOOTER Store employees and their families participate in this walk.

Frog Fest for Comal County Senior Center

This is a fundraiser for the Comal County Senior Center. You can register and pay for a plastic frog that is turned out into the Comal River and the first frog to float to the finish line wins. The SCOOTER Store donates funds for administrative costs.

High school booster clubs

The SCOOTER Store contributes $1500 to each of the three New Braunfels-area high school booster clubs. We hope our support helps keep children in school and involved in sports activities and keep them out of gangs and drugs.

Blue Santa

Each year, we receive hundreds of requests for items from the needy children/families of Comal County and our employees take the requests and buy the items wanted by these children. We get requests ranging from Barbie dolls to bicycles and we fill every one of them.

Children's Advocacy Center

The Children's Advocacy Center is a neutral, child-friendly agency that uses a multidisciplinary approach in the prevention, detection, investigation and treatment of child abuse. For the last few years, we have helped the Children's Advocacy Center raise money through a Valentine's Day balloon sale at The SCOOTER Store. We supply the balloons and helium. Volunteers from the center blow up the balloons and sell them to our employees. The event has raised more than $4000 for the center.

Comal County Fair

We provide water during the annual Comal County Fair Parade. Employee-owners help out with the distribution of the water, arriving at the parade site at 7 a.m. and working until it's over at 1 p.m. We hand out more than 4000 bottles of water to parade participants.

American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Florida

This year, we sponsored a team in Florida in honor of a woman who, unfortunately, we could not help in time to regain her mobility because she lost her battle before we could get her equipment to her. It affected the corporate employees involved with her so strongly we flew employees to Florida to join with our employees in that area to participate in the relay in her honor. The team raised and donated more than $5000.

American Cancer Society Relay for Life, New Braunfels

Each year, we have numerous employees who walk in this relay. We also donate four or five scooters, so that those who are recovering from cancer can participate in this walk.

San Antonio Zoo

Employee-owners donate hundreds of hours of their time to enhance the zoo's mission to foster appreciation for all living things by participating on boards and committees as well as assisting with zoo fundraising and benefits.

United Way of Comal County

The SCOOTER Store employees donate more than $30,000 to the United Way of Comal County through payroll deductions. We have volunteers on the board of directors and the allocations committee. Our employees also donate their time to the many agencies funded by United Way, such as the Children's Advocacy Center and the Crisis Center.

Big Brothers Big Sisters

The SCOOTER Store is an advocate of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor Program. The SCOOTER Store provides office space to the organization at no charge.

Remote locations throughout nation

We also support those employees in the field who want to volunteer for their own local charities. We may not do it with monetary donations to the organization, but we pay our employees for time off to volunteer. For example:

At the San Francisco, CA, Distribution Center, we have members of the American Legion who participate in the Vets Helping Vets program. One of our employees is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Military Order of the Purple Heart and has a therapy dog he takes to the local VA hospital, clinic and retirement home for visits.
At the Distribution Center in Louisville, KY, our employees gave money to charity instead of buying each other gifts at Christmas. The 16 employees gave $560 to the Wayside Christian Mission in downtown Louisville. This organization provides shelter for homeless men and women.
In Baton Rouge, LA, our manger and his wife are involved in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure event for breast cancer awareness. They have been involved for 14 years, and this year they had 125 participants on their team.
In Mobile, AL, one of our employees started an organization to help troubled kids by having them clean up the parks. Numerous employees helped during hurricane relief efforts, and one of our employees helps cook for the homeless. Another of our employees is a youth minister and a leader for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Our Distribution Center manager in Schenectady, NY, is a member of the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks. He also mentors for the agency. Additionally, he is celebrating his 25th year as a volunteer firefighter. The town he lives in relies 100% on volunteers to provide fire protection. Another person on his staff is also a volunteer firefighter.
At our Distribution Center in Phoenix, AZ, we have employees who are involved with the Cub Scouts, the American Diabetes Association, community home makeovers and the Christmas toy drive. We have volunteers who are on the boards of their church and volunteers who play the piano for their church choir.