“What does Care Creates Community mean?” — is a question we get asked a lot at Wimmer Solutions, so we decided it’s time to share our story.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are nothing new in the world of business. Corporate social responsibility is the idea that a business has a responsibility to the society that exists around it, according to the online course, Sustainable Business Strategy. Many companies launch CSR programs as part of their brand marketing strategy to improve their reputation and increase employee engagement.
Care Creates Community (CCC) is nothing new either. In fact, Care Creates Community has been in existence since long before it had a name — even before Wimmer Founder and CEO, Matt Sauri, had a Marketing department. Some say Care Creates Community has always existed. But we’ll come back to that.
To tell you the truth, few people within or outside of Wimmer think of Care Creates Community as your run-of-the-mill CSR program.
Yes, it’s a program through which Wimmer employees are encouraged to — and do — support a wide variety of nonprofit organizations through donations of “time, treasure, or talent.” And yes, we hope our clients and partners notice us for being so involved in the community — in fact, we hope they’ll join us on the journey and include us in their own.
But while CSRs focus on “corporate responsibility,” Care Creates Community centers on fostering a culture of compassion, empathy, and connection both with and within the broader community.
It’s also a motto, a mantra in some settings, that stands for systematizing the good and inspiring others to give back.
Working with Care to Create Community
Global Director of Recruiting, Deanna Johnson, recalls that in her first interview with Matt, she knew she was speaking with a leader who cared about people.
“He was interested in me as a person, and shared things about himself and how Wimmer came about,” says Deanna.
Subsequent interviewers displayed the same sense of caring. It became clear to Deanna that people at Wimmer loved where they work and who they worked with, and she felt a strong sense of community — belonging and inclusivity — from the beginning.
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Four years into working for Wimmer Solutions, Deanna still feels that sense of community at work. She’s also inspired by leadership that “shares the wealth” outside Wimmer walls and participates in fundraising events.
But financial investments and fundraisers are mere fragments of Wimmer’s commitment to community.
IT and Operations Manager, Joey Neilson, recalls working for Wimmer Solutions when a man named Eric, a veteran Green Beret with U.S. Army Special Forces, came into the office to discuss career options with Matt1.
It wasn’t long before their conversation turned to the idea of creating a foundation that would provide trained canines to veterans suffering from PTS/PTSD. Matt and Eric gave birth to Project Kenny that day — a program that continues to provide canine and other therapeutic support to military veterans and service members today.
Not only did Matt co-found Project Kenny, but he shared the honor of participating in the project with Joey, who volunteered to build the Project Kenny website and currently serves on its board of directors.
Joey has been involved with other Care Creates Community endeavors over the years as well, including delivering Wimmer’s used laptops to nonprofits in need. After three years, Wimmer laptops can no longer be deployed, and while many companies dismantle, destroy, or even sell their laptops, at Wimmer, laptops are wiped clean, updated and reimaged, and then donated. But the giving doesn’t end there.
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Joey and Jason Marcotte (Wimmer’s IT Support Engineer) have also had the opportunity to train recipients and see the laptops back in action. Better than that, they’ve witnessed the excitement, relief, and gratitude from both children and adults during these encounters.
Which isn’t an accident, by the way.
In case it’s not obvious, Matt Sauri is a leader who’s driven to help others — as many people are. But while Matt could easily be known as “Matt Sauri, the philanthropist” and keep the credit and joy of giving for himself, what drives him to share Care Creates Community with Wimmer Solutions is the understanding of just how much giving benefits givers too. Matt’s own words express this best:
“I will say that one of the things that makes me most proud is to see what happens when people lean into the idea of giving back. And the beauty of it all is this: While the communities benefit from the kindness people give... those giving actually benefit just as much. I’ve always thought: If everyone knew how much joy came from giving back, everyone would do it. I KNOW this to be true.”
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And this is why, instead of Matt Sauri, the philanthropist, you’re reading about Care Creates Community at Wimmer Solutions.
Giving Back with Wimmer Solutions
Wimmer provides a number of opportunities for staff to donate their time, talent, and treasure so that they can experience the joy of giving back to a charity2 that’s meaningful to them. All employees financial donations are matched by Wimmer — doubling our contributions (and our joy!).
Care Creates Community is a core value of Wimmer Solutions that reflects the company's commitment to creating a positive impact in the community, building strong relationships with clients based on care and understanding, and creating a supportive work environment that enables its employees to thrive.
Senior Data Scientist & Practice Lead, Kyle Johnstone can attest to this. Kyle is relatively new to Wimmer (he joined in August 2022), and when I asked him whether Care Creates Community influenced his decision to join Wimmer, he responded with a decisive “No.”
The slogan itself didn’t mean anything to Kyle, at first.
But through the interview process, he came to realize that the people at Wimmer had heart, and that their values — values instilled through Care Creates Community — lined up with his own. And his interview experience has held up. Kyle says his colleagues at Wimmer have come to feel like family. He feels supported and inspired to go above and beyond for Wimmer cohorts and clients alike.
As we stated in the beginning, "Care Creates Community" is more than just a slogan for Wimmer Solutions — it's a principle that guides company operations, leadership, management, and is meant to flourish across and within teams at Wimmer too.
Wimmer’s core values were built intentionally and are kept alive through strong leadership and management — leaders and managers who were hired for their values, not despite them — and who are expected to embody the soul of Care Creates Community and carry it forward so that being part of the team is a rewarding experience.
And while the main directive is promoting health, sustainability, and inclusivity of organizations in our community that serve disadvantaged populations, Care Creates Community naturally elevates connection and inclusivity within the Wimmer workplace as well.
Learn more about Wimmer Solutions and how we live our motto by exploring our Community efforts.
1Wimmer supports veterans in many ways, including their transition into meaningful civilian careers through career guidance, training, mentorship, resume writing support, and interview preparation.
2 As long as the organization is a registered 501C3, secular, and nonpolitical.
