ECF celebrates 75 years of community partnerships
A lot has changed through the decades, but Boeing employees’ commitment to their communities has remained constant.
ECF Utah donors present a check to PAAG. (Boeing photo)
In 1972, the Problems Anonymous Action Group (PAAG) in Ogden, Utah, received a donation of $1,181 from the Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund. The donation helped PAAG — which provides permanent housing, case management services, and more for seriously mentally ill and chronically homeless individuals — pay for washing machines for its drop-in center.
A lot has changed since 1972, but Boeing employees’ commitment to their communities has remained constant. The Boeing Employees Good Neighbor Fund is now called the Employees Community Fund (ECF) and has expanded to 20 U.S. sites.
ECF’s Utah chapter is still supporting PAAG. Since 2019, ECF donations supported the purchase of new washers and dryers, new ovens and meal delivery services during the pandemic.
“We may not think of being able to wash laundry as a blessing in our lives, but for our tenants it is a daily barrier to face,” said Neely Sorenson, a case management supervisor at PAAG. “Washers and dryers give PAAG tenants an improved quality of life. PAAG is grateful for each Boeing employee that donates to ECF and the ECF committee that cares about the needs of our PAAG members.”
Matthew Sorenson, a fabrication technician at Boeing Salt Lake City, has served on the ECF Utah chapter’s grantmaking committee for the past eight years. Each local ECF chapter has employee grantmakers like Sorenson, who decide which local nonprofits should receive ECF grants.
“Through ECF, we can touch so many lives in our communities,” said Sorenson of the fund that turned 75 this year. “Even the small donations add up to make a huge difference. You only need to see the smiles on people’s faces to know that our donations matter.”
In 2023, ECF chapters donated $7.6 million to communities. Each chapter is able to decide its own focus areas based on community needs. Here are a few chapters and the community partners they support:
- Colorado chapter: More than $42,000 in grants since 2009 to support Kidpower International, a nonprofit that teaches child protection and personal safety
- Southern California chapter: More than $70,000 since 2016 to support Kidsave Los Angeles for the Weekend Miracles Program, which helps older children in foster care find forever homes
- South Carolina chapter: $106,000 since 2012 to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Charleston
