The IE Discovery "Bridge" Program Supporting Employee Volunteerism

7/22/2010 - IE Discovery donates to AHF, naming AHF Executive Chairman "Volunteer of the Quarter." BRIDGE is IE Discovery’s employee-run volunteer program that encourages employees to support the community through service and volunteer work. The program also provides a company-sponsored pool of money for various community needs. IE Discovery CEO Chris May, presented a check in the amount of $695.00 to Bryan Dawson, Chairman of the AHF Executive Committee, who accepted it on behalf of the Federation.

The BRIDGE program is a partnership between IE Discovery and its employees to promote social responsibility toward the communities in which we provide services.  Employees are encouraged to participate in charitable causes and the general helping of others to make our community a better place for all.  The BRIDGE committee is charged with designing, implementing, promoting and growing this program.

In his presentation, Mr. Dawson thanked IE Discovery and it's employees for supporting the Bridge Program. He commented on how, as a nation of immigrants who made great sacrifices, we all share in the responsibility to continue to build for a better future. He called attention to the recent humanitarian disaster from flooding in Hungary as well as current human and minority rights issues. [Full text of his speech is below].

To date, IE Discovery and its employee-volunteers have raised over $14,000 since the program began in 2008 where it supported 35 local and national charities in it first year. The 2009/2010 Bridge year supported 44 charities. Charities supported include:

• Lance Armstrong Foundation
• USO
• VFW
• Red Cross
• Make-a-Wish Foundation
• LifeWorks
• Girl Scouts
• Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care
• Delta Education & Public Service Foundation
• Multiple Sclerosis Association of America

"All of us here today are immigrants. Our forefathers helped build this country and we all have a responsibility to them and to our children to take care of her and continue to build to make a better future. Let me begin reading an excerpt from a letter that, though showing utmost humility, would help change history:

"Most Illustrious Sir: Golden freedom cannot be purchased with yellow gold.” "I, who have the honor to present this letter to your Excellency, am also following the call of the Fathers of the Land, as the pioneers of freedom always did. I am a free man and a Hungarian. As to my military status I was trained in the Royal Prussian Army and raised from the lowest rank to the dignity of a Captain of the Hussars, not so much by luck and the mercy of chance than by most diligent self discipline and the virtue of my arms. The dangers and the bloodshed of a great many campaigns taught me how to mold a soldier, and, when made, how to arm him and let him defend the dearest of the lands with his best ability under any conditions and developments of the war… At last, awaiting your gracious answer, I have no wish greater than to leave forthwith, to be where I am needed most, to serve and die in everlasting obedience to Your Excellency and the Congress.

P.S: As yet I am unable to write, fluently in French or English and had only the choice of writing either in German or Latin; for this I apologize to your Excellency."

In this 1777 letter to Benjamin Franklin, Michael Kovats, the Huszar officer and would be founder of the US Cavalry offered his sword in service to the United States. His offer accepted, he was made Colonel-Commandant of the Pulaski Legion. He recruited, trained, organized, and led the first American cavalry into battle. He was killed in action relieving Charleston, South Carolina from a British attack in 1779.

Kovats' letter to Franklin foreshadowed his fate as it was signed “Fidelissimus Ad Mortem” or “Faithful Unto Death” which was adopted as the American Hungarian Federation’s motto. Our Motto reflects our virtues and historically and inextricably ties Hungarians and Americans together and symbolizes Hungarians' contribution to America right from the start.

Hungary and its people would continue their centuries-long tradition of enduring and fighting against foreign occupation. Some of you know that my mother was wounded fighting Soviet troops in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, crossing mine fields to escape the gallows. Those of you who know me know that rebelliousness is in my nature. I am passionate about things important to me and the cause of freedom in honor of my ancestors is one such endeavor.

Recent widespread flooding and resulting humanitarian disaster affecting the elderly, children and the poorest rural communities requires immediate action. But there are current human rights issues as well. The situation for millions of Hungarian “minorities,” those living in Hungarian areas lost after WWI at the Treaty of Versailles (or Trianon) in 1920, remains grim. Incredibly, the government of Slovakia (in what was northern Hungary) recently passed a “language law” forbidding the use of the mother tongue in 1100-year-old ethnic Hungarian villages. Ethnic cleansing, the lack of educational opportunity, and violence in Rumania and Serbia are but a few indicators that there is much work to do.

AHF Disaster Relief Fund
[2010 Flood Relief]

The Hungarian May Charity Ball
2006, 2007, 2009, 2010

AHF DISASTER RELIEF HISTORY

AHF relief efforts during WWII
[read more]

AHF relief efforts during
the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

[GO TO all AHF History]

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About IE Discovery

Since 1990, IE Discovery has delivered reliable, innovative Discovery Management services to government agencies and companies around the globe. From onsite collection and e-discovery processing to legal review and web-hosting, our team of legal and technology experts apply their depth and breadth of knowledge to provide practical, cost-effective solutions for complex discovery needs. Our comprehensive services encompass the complete discovery cycle, and leverage the InfoDox® platform—our secure, Web-based system for searching, organizing, and producing discovery documents.

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