Plugable Employees Gather a Mountain of Food in Drive to Support Local Food Bank

Over 200 lbs of food Plugable and Efficient Era gathered for Renewal Food Bank

The consumer electronics market is brutal and Plugable Technologies is fully engaged in beating the competition with fantastic products and amazing customer service.

But recently we applied our competitive instincts in a different arena as employees at Plugable and sister company Efficient Era faced off in an epic battle to fill boxes with food for hungry local families. At stake were bragging rights, free movie tickets, and the joy of helping others.

Boxes of food donated by Plugable and Efficient Era employees

Plugable employees Monalisa Labrador and Katie Kom divided workers from both companies into eight teams of four and five each who gathered over 200 pounds of food for the Renewal Food Bank in nearby Bellevue Washington. In case altruism wasn’t enough, Monalisa added motivation with a scoring system where more valuable foods gained higher points towards cinema passes for the winning team.

“I wanted to do this when I first came to Plugable and (Plugable Founder Bernie Thompson) was all for it. It was a lot more successful than I expected,” she said.

The winning team of the food donation contest — *Members of the winning team, Sarah Guermond (left) of Efficient Era, with Ryan Primiani, Justin Taylor, and Gina Saifullah of Plugable*

“It was nice to have an opportunity to do some good, as well as enjoy some healthy office competition to build camaraderie,” said Justin Taylor, a member of the winning team.

“I just wanted to see Hotel Transylvania 3 and get some free tickets,” joked Justin’s teammate Ryan Primiani.

Unloading the donated food at the Renewal Food Bank — *Rich Bowen (center), Director of Renewl Food Bank, accepts Plugable's food donation from Katie Kom (left) and Monalisa Labrador (right)*

The Renewal Food Bank opens its doors for immediate relief to families who fall through the cracks in the Seattle area’s prosperous Eastside, without onerous verification or eligibility requirements. Plugable’s contribution added to an ongoing effort by Food Bank Director Rich Bowen to engage local business in helping the hungry. “It takes a lot of food to feed 300 families a week,” he said.

Helping out in the community is an important part of Plugable’s effort to build a better device company. “We have an attitude here we call the ‘Plugable Way,'” said Bernie, Plugable’s founder. “It means always striving to do the right thing for our customers, for the environment, and for our community. I really appreciate the efforts of Monalisa and Katie in organizing this, and of all the Plugable team members who participated.”

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