August 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 60

NRPA Update

Strengthened Ties After the Storms
A Gulf Coast corporation seeks " resourceful giving " through parks
By Maureen Hannan

n the post-Katrina ruins of Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish, the employees
of Rain CII, a Gulf Coast industrial-carbon company, were facing a monumental recovery alongside their many neighbors and partners in the area.
The storm had shut down operations at the Chalmette plant, and its offices -
along with much of the New Orleans area - were uninhabitable.
St. Bernard Parish was among the
regions hardest hit by the 2005 hurricane. When a 25-foot storm surge
overflowed the Mississippi River from
the south and Lake Pontchartrain
rushed over the city from the north,
waters as high as 15 feet flooded the
area. Along with many displaced New
Orleans residents, the corporate office
(and 32 of its 35 employees) relocated
to the Houston area. Rain CII re-established itself in Kingwood, Texas.
Despite the physical relocation, the
company's management and employees remained committed volunteers in
Chalmette's recovery effort.
Redefining Community Outreach
As Rain CII Communications Manager Peter Wagner explains, the dev-

Parks & Recreation

astation wrought by Katrina impacted the corporation at every level. A
small, 275-employee powerhouse of
a manufacturer, Rain CII had long
prided itself on strong ties to the
communities where its seven plants
turn out calcined petroleum coke
needed for aluminum production.
" Rain CII has always been very
conscious of the importance of
community outreach, " Wagner
says. " But certainly our corporate
experience has been informed and
shaped by the storm. " In the years
following Katrina and subsequent
major hurricanes, the organization's
leadership applied that hard-earned
experience to the search for new
approaches to helping the localities
where it operates.

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The search for improved ways of
identifying and meeting local needs
led Rain CII to query its employees
on their ideas for contributing to their
local communities. " Many of them, "
Wagner says, " came up with park
and rec-related ideas. "
In 2012, the company entered into
a partnership with NRPA that resulted in the establishment of a $100,000
grant program to local parks. The
funds were distributed in varying
amounts to nine communities close
to Rain CII's plants and corporate
offices. And in each case, the grant
targeted specific needs identified by
local parks and recreation agencies.
" Resourceful Giving "
in Partnership with Parks
" This partnership with the NRPA
marks an important step at Rain CII
in our Resourceful Giving program, "
Gerry Sweeney, president and CEO
of Rain CII, comments. " It supports
our Building Blocks for Success in
giving back to communities in which
we live and work, and promoting employee health and well-being, which
we believe are basic tenets of any
successful company. We have chosen
NRPA because of their commitment
to parks, communities and the environment at large across our country. "
The uniqueness of this grant program, NRPA Vice President of Development Rebecca Wickline observes, lies in both its flexibility and
its regard for existing projects and
facilities - allowing local park and
recreation agencies " to complete
projects that enrich the quality of life,

August 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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