Employees at Cognizant donated $21,244 to the Souris Valley United Way on Wednesday. Employees raised $10,622 and their employer matched the contribution dollar for dollar.
Employees said that the group has always raised money for the United Way when they were employed by ING. When the company was purchased by Cognizant earlier this fall, they weren't sure what they should do. Employees decided that they wanted to continue the tradition and organized some of the fundraisers that had been popular in the past, such as a silent auction for parking spots or paying for the privilege of wearing casual clothes on a certain day. Employees like to help out the community by donating to the United Way and many of the employees volunteer with some of the service organizations that receive funding from the United Way.
There are some 700 employees at the company. Suneal Singhat, vice president and head of BPS Delivery-North America for Cognizant, said he has heard good things about the United Way and the company is glad to contribute to the program.
Article Photos
Andrea Johnson/MDN
Back row, from left to right, Cognizant employees Colleen Bertsch, Tara LaBonte; Casey Klein; front row: Cognizant employee Rosa Berg, Suneal Singhal, vice president and head of BPS Delivery-North America for Cognizant; Cognizant employees Sumita Mullick and Lisa Wickum and Pat Smith, executive director of the Souris Valley United Way.
Pat Smith, executive director of the United Way, said the large contribution from Cognizant will help the organization reach its fundraising goal. United Way is still running its fundraising campaign through the end of December and has raised 51 percent of its $675,000 goal. Smith said they are ahead in terms of dollars of where they were at last year but haven't reached the final goal. People who want to donate can get more information on the Souris Valley United Way website at (www.svunitedway.com) or call Smith at 839-2994.