Bereavement Organization Recognizes 46 Compassionate Employers

The Compassionate Friends, the world's largest self-help bereavement organization, has recognized 46 companies from across the United States that have shown support above and beyond the norm for parents, siblings, and grandparents who have suffered the tragic loss of a child. Companies receiving the 2003 Compassionate Employer Recognition award range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

TCF Recognizes 46 Compassionate Employers

   Forty-six employers across the United States have been recognized by The Compassionate Friends for showing extra sensitivity to workers who have suffered the death of a child, sibling, or grandchild, Board President David Pellegrin announced today.
   Generally nominated by the persons they have directly helped, these companies are receiving the Compassionate Employer Recognition award for 2003 for going above and beyond the normal policies of most companies in helping their employees when the death of a child occurred.
   The criteria for Compassionate Employer Recognition are:
·   Corporate policies that reflect a compassionate attitude toward bereaved parents, siblings, and grandparents.
·   Personal support extended by management team toward the bereaved on staff following the childs death.
·   Caring attitudes demonstrated by employers entire workforce.
·   Flexibility in work assignments and evaluation of job performance during the stress and personal pain associated with the death of a child.
·   All other acts of compassion that bereaved parents and siblings will forever remember.
   Recipients of the 2003 Compassionate Employer Recognition award are: Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (CRS), Montgomery, AL; American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Rochester, MN; BAE Systems, Manassas, VA; Baker & Hostetler, LLP, Orlando, FL; Bank of America, Atlanta, GA; Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Inc., Brentwood, TN; Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA; Bear Creek Corporation, Medford, OR; Boone Hospital Center, Columbia, MO; Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Bozeman, MT; Broward County Office of Budget Services, Fort Lauderdale, FL; California State University, Sacramento, CA; Caton Auto Clinic, Baltimore, MD; Center for Rehab Services, McKeesport, PA; Central Maine Medical Center, T-1 Nursing Staff, Lewiston, ME; Chili Public Library, Rochester, NY; CIGNA Healthcare, Philadelphia, PA; Citizens & Farmers Bank, Saluda, VA; Clear Channel Taxi Media, Las Vegas, NV; Community Care Services Program, Rome, GA; CPI Corp. (Sears Portrait Studio), St. Louis, MO; Dakota Engineering, Indianapolis, IN; Dordt College, Sioux Center, IA; Easy Gardener, Inc., Waco, TX; Farmers Insurance Group-The Schmidt Agency, Livonia, MI; Farmers Mutual of Flemington, Flemington, NJ; Federal Express, Framingham, MA; Granite Construction Co., Hanford, CA; Gray & Becker, Austin, TX; Hyatt Regency/San Diego, San Diego, CA; IBM Corporation, Smyrna, GA; IDS Credential One, Bedford Heights, OH; Intron, Spokane, WA; Johnson Controls, Inc. (Controls Division), Milwaukee, WI; Laurel Ford, Laurel, MS; Libla Industries, Inc., Poplar Bluff, MO; Monarch K-8 School, Boulder Valley Public Schools, Louisville, CO; Northcoast Childrens Services, Arcata, CA; Pepperell Family Practice, Inc. Pepperell, MA; Pools By Baxter, Virginia Beach, VA; Robert F. Kennedy Medical Center, Hawthorne, CA; Safari Technologies, Otsego, MI; St. Thomas University, Miami, FL; Surebridge, Inc., Lexington, MA; The Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH; Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, NE.

   This is the third year for recognition of employers, with recipients jumping from 3 to 24, and this year to 46.
   For many newly bereaved parents, coping with a job is one of the harshest of their new realities," explained Pellegrin in announcing the recipient companies. Employer sensitivity can have a tremendously positive impact on workers directly affected by the tragic loss of a child. So its especially gratifying to see such an increase in the number of employers receiving recognition for their compassion."
   The Compassionate Friends is an international support organization with nearly 600 chapters in the United States alone. To contact The Compassionate Friends, which has chapters in all 50 states, call toll-free 877-969-0010 or visit the national TCF Web site at www.compassionatefriends.org. Nomination forms are on the Web site.
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FROM: Wayne Loder
Public Awareness Coordinator
The Compassionate Friends
(Toll-free) 866-964-4000
wayneloder@aol.com