AtWork! News
AtWork! Honors Drugstore.com At Annual Breakfast
AtWork! is pleased to announce Drugstore.com as the 2011 recipient of its Supporter of the Year Award, given annually at the organization’s celebration breakfast. Each year AtWork! creates an opportunity for the community to come together to show its support for the outstanding people with disabilities who show courage and determination everyday as they pursue their own personal path to employment
This year’s event was held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Bellevue, on April 13. John Curley, charity auctioneer and media personality, was the emcee, and Margaret Padilla, a valued and contributing employee of Drugstore.com, talked about her employment experience. She has held her job for more than a year.
Jim Cunningham, from Drugstore.com, got to thinking about how his company was proactive in hiring people with disabilities at its eastern distribution center and had the idea of finding similar opportunities at company headquarters in Bellevue. He gave AtWork! a call, and AtWork! Employment Consultants spent some time with Jim and Brooke Newman, conducting a job tour to identify what jobs were needed within the company that simply were not getting done. Several ideas emerged, including cleaning up three break rooms. Jim accepted the Supporter of the Year award on behalf of Drugstore.com
Over 350 were in attendance and they not only heard the story of Drugstore.com and Margaret’s success, but also were introduced to Pat Logsdon, who works at the Pinehurst Safeway store cleaning out the meat department at night. Pat worked for 20 years in AtWork!’s landscaping division, developing valuable skills that he is putting to use at Safeway. His ambition is to move from the back to the front of the store, where he’ll have a chance for more contact with customers, and perhaps serve as a Courtesy Clerk.
