‘Tis the Season

The holidays are upon us once again.  How did you spend your Friday night, December 14?  Whatever you did, I’ll bet it doesn’t compare to Dave Preusse’s night in Winsted, CT.

Dave is President of Wittmann Battenfeld Inc. (Torrington, CT), the US division of The Wittmann Group (Vienna, Austria), one of the plastics industry’s leading suppliers of molding machines, robots and auxiliary equipment.  He lives in the small town of Winsted, CT, and on Friday night he went down to the Winsted Town Park with a few other town residents.  He, and they, spent the night sleeping out in the 30 degree cold to raise awareness of, and raise money for, the local homeless shelter operated by the Winsted YMCA.

The Winsted YMCA Emergency Homeless Shelter has six rooms, with a combined 17 available beds, and offers a short-term respite for families, couples and individuals suffering through difficult times.

“It’s nice to give back in ways we can,” said Dave. ““We’ve raised over $8,000 so far, $1,000 alone by Boy Scouts who slept out in the park that night too.”

“In the morning, I grabbed a coffee and breakfast with the Winsted Fire Chief and resumed my life of someone with a home, heat, food, and clothes.  Most of us take this for granted, but we need to remember a lot of people are not that fortunate.” 

Dave is reluctant to ‘blow his own horn’ and prefers the focus of this blog not be on him, but on the many acts of kindness his company’s employees conduct throughout the year to help those in need. 

Wittmann Battenfeld contributes to local charities in many ways. Many of its employees get Christmas gifts for local families. They give to a fundraiser for Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, they give to several Cancer charities (including ‘Light the Night’ for the late PLASTICS President, Bill Carteaux, who just last week lost his battle with Leukemia), and so many more.   

 In this holiday season, the season of giving, I applaud Dave, and the many Wittmann Battenfeld employees who remember to reach out and help the less fortunate.   And I’m happy to say that most if not all of our other clients also provide their valuable time and resources to support charitable causes in their communities. 

As the old saying goes: it’s better to give than to receive.  Happy holidays everyone.