ORLANDO, Fla. – Gary Walsh of Bright House Networks is this week's News 6 Getting Results Award winner. Walsh has been coordinating toy drives at the company for 15 years.
Walsh and a hand full of coworkers set up shop each year in a conference room located in the back of the company's Maitland office building. The group will spend the next three days wrapping more than three thousand gifts collected throughout the year.
"It gets a little better every year," Walsh says as he puts the finishing touches on a stack of gifts that will be delivered to the Hope and Help Center of Orlando. A non-profit dedicated to helping families affected by HIV.
Walsh has streamlined the process over the years, using his business background to create spreadsheets and bar code tracking for all the gifts. "We're a communications company, we're a technology company. So it kind of goes together," he says.
Walsh was nominated by coworker Scott McCullum. "If there's anyone getting results, it's Gary Walsh," he says. "We're so proud of Gary, this is something that he takes on himself," McCullum continues. "It's an authentic effort for him and the rest of the employees."
In total, Walsh says the employees of Bright House Networks donated nearly $50,000 worth of toys this season. Enough to give 323 children a happy Christmas with every gift on their list under their tree. That's over three thousand wrapped gifts and 137 bicycles.
Lisa Barr, executive director of Hope and Help, was on hand as nine Bright House vans and two box trucks delivered the toys. She spoke of the children and families that will benefit from the generosity of the Bright House employees. She says medical costs prevent many of the families she serves from having much more than the basics.
"They have very expensive medical regimens that they have to be on. It helps keep them in care and that's the most important thing. It lets them know they're important and the broader community supports their challenge to be normal in a world that's still stigmatized with HIV."