Happy Veterans Day!
Leggett & Platt fosters a culture of giving, encouraging our employees to Do Some Good. Throughout the course of our local United Way campaign, we will shine a spotlight on several of the incredible agencies that United Way serves in our community. Times may be difficult, but we have witnessed communities rising to meet these hard moments. If in a position to give this year, we encourage you to support your local agency, too.
Jasper County CASA’s mission is to change a child’s story, and its volunteers are doing just that. CASA stands for court-appointed special advocates, a group of citizens who ensure regular contact, support, and advocacy for children in our community who have experienced abuse and neglect.
“The most critical work of CASA is to show up and speak up for the child,” said Kelly Hartley, Development Coordinator for Jasper County CASA. “The greatest factor for children who overcome serious hardship is the presence of at least one stable and committed adult. CASAs provide consistent, loving support and may be the only responsible adult presence in the child’s life.”
Jasper County CASA currently has over 90 volunteers serving approximately 200 children. Their vision is for each of the more than 400 children in foster care in Jasper County to have a court-appointed special advocate by 2024.
“When people support United Way, the funding helps provide recruitment, training, and retention of volunteer advocates,” said Hartley. “The trained advocates then show up for kids in foster care. For the first time in a child’s life, a responsible adult shows up at school, the foster home, supervised parent visits, football games, or birthday parties.”
CASA aims to ensure each child receives the best possible chance at a safe, permanent home and spends less time in the foster care system.
“Our advocates give each child a voice by making recommendations to the court based on the child’s best interest,” said Hartley. “The advocates give information gathered from those involved, especially the child. CASAs are positively impacting the lives of these children by showing up and speaking on their behalf. And we couldn’t do it without the support of United Way.”
November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, which honors all who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Our military veterans have served everywhere—on land, air, sea, and even space. Their dedication and service ensure we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. For Veterans Day, we want to spotlight some of our amazing employees who are U.S. veterans.
Josh has been with L&P for nine years and is currently our Company Credit Card and Expense Administrator.
Josh served in the 1011th Quartermaster Company for eight years. While in the Army, he was involved in many missions, including Operation Nuevos Horizontes in Flores, Guatemala, and supporting military operations against hostile forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom at the LSA Anaconda (support base) in Balad, Iraq:
“Our core mission was to support and serve the combat units that we were stationed with. I enjoyed helping others—from the Marines who built schools in impoverished countries to providing logistics to our forces stateside.
Serving others while far away from your loved ones is tough, but I am proud of the military and their ability to step up and make that sacrifice.”
Values help shape who we are and how we treat one another, and Josh thinks that many Army values can be found at L&P:
“I feel that many of the core values of the Army directly transfer over to our Leggett & Platt values—values such as respect, integrity, and loyalty, to name a few. I like to think that those who served honorably for the military would find this to be an easy transition.”
We are very grateful to Josh and all who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Your service and dedication are inspiring!
November 11 is Veterans Day in the United States, which honors all who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Our military veterans have served everywhere—on land, air, sea, and even space. Their dedication and service ensure we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. For Veterans Day, we want to spotlight some of our amazing employees who are U.S. veterans.
Robert began working as a contractor for Leggett in 1995, providing training to supervisors and managers at U.S. Spring locations. In May of 1996, he accepted a full-time position at L&P. He is currently the Vice President of EHS, Quality, and Continuous Improvement for Domestic Bedding.
Robert served in the Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserves for 23 years, spending six years in active duty and 17 years in the Guard and Reserve. His active duty service took place in Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Lee, Virginia; Fort Eustis, Virginia; and in Operation Iraqi Freedom from September of 2003 to November of 2004. Robert recalls his favorite time while serving:
“By far, the most gratifying time serving was running a base camp on the border of Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom. To me, serving God and our country are two of the most important things we can do.”
For most of Robert’s military career, he held a leadership position. He credits the military with helping him develop the skills to be a leader at Leggett:
“The military provided me with invaluable training to work with and lead others—from platoon leader in basic training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to Officer Candidate School, Company Commander, Brigade Primary Staff Officer, and Battalion Executive Officer—during both peace time and deployment.”
We are very grateful to Robert and all who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Your service and dedication are inspiring!
L&P Automotive employees Mario Lorenzon, Becky Ferguson, Joe Lang, and Milosz Niec recently participated in Habitat for Humanity’s Rock the Block in Oakland County, Michigan.
Rock the Block is part of Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization effort, which offers minor exterior home repairs to homeowners in need. L&P made a corporate donation to the event and has been a long-standing supporter of Habitat for Humanity.
“Habitat for Humanity does important work in revitalizing neighborhoods and providing housing for those who otherwise may not be able to afford it,” said Milosz Niec, Chief Engineer of Electrical and Electronics for the Automotive Group. “They also bring the community together – people of all backgrounds and skill levels.”
Our team and other volunteers from the community lent their skills to revitalize an older Southfield neighborhood.
“In the morning, the team and I worked to clear a lot for development, and in the afternoon, we helped to build some landscaping,” said Milosz. “A few of us were able to do some great team building. It was my first time to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, and I will do it again!”
Thanks to the team for exemplifying our L&P value of doing great work together!
The Herbert J. Davenport Society, which is a part of the University of Missouri’s (MU) Trulaske College of Business, recently hosted a banquet that honored Harry M. Cornell, Jr.
Harry was a lifelong leader at L&P, serving as our CEO from 1960 to 1999, and a very generous community partner.
Harry supported and contributed to the University of Missouri. In 1950, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and received an honorary doctorate of law in 2003 from MU. In 2002, Cornell Hall, which is named after Harry, was completed and became the home for MU’s College of Business. He helped found the Strategic Development Board for the Trulaske College of Business and gave a financial gift that established the Cornell Leadership Program at MU.
Read more about Harry’s legacy and check out some photos from the banquet:
Each month, the L&P Marketing & Creative (M+C) teams get together—online and offline—to foster connection and friendship. M+C recently came together to carve pumpkins and collect non-perishable food for the Sunshine Children’s Home in Carthage, Missouri!
Virtual activities throughout the month provide a chance to connect beyond work-related meetings. The department also offers a monthly in-person activity aimed at bringing more people together. Physical gatherings usually revolve around a planning meeting or service project and include lunch or snacks.
Check out photos from M+C’s pumpkin social below!
Leggett & Platt Marketing + Creative is an internal creative agency for Leggett & Platt. We offer design, writing, internet, and tradeshow services to L&P’s business units. We also perform creative work for a number of outside companies at a standard rate per hour.
Leggett & Platt fosters a culture of giving, encouraging our employees to Do Some Good. Throughout the course of our local United Way campaign, we will shine a spotlight on several of the incredible agencies that United Way serves in our community. Times may be difficult, but we have witnessed communities rising to meet these hard moments. If in a position to give this year, we encourage you to support your local agency, too.
Since its inception in 1992, Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri has had one mission: to provide quality, affordable healthcare to those in need. Physicians and community leaders started the first clinic in a donated room at the Presbyterian Church in downtown Joplin. One night a week, they would open the doors and offer a warm meal and medical assistance to anyone in need.
“We often take for granted the ability to go to the doctor or get a prescription filled,” said Stephanie Brady, Executive Director of Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri. “If we think of the thousands of people who are struggling in our community and who choose to buy food instead of going to the doctor — those are the people we help.”
Today, with community support and the partnership with United Way, the clinic found a permanent home at 701 S. Joplin Avenue. The Community Clinic serves nearly 1,800 patients, providing medical, dental, vision, prescription, and mental healthcare four days a week.
“Our prescription assistance program is a great example of the impact of United Way,” said Brady. “With funding, we have been able to provide necessary prescriptions for families in need throughout Southwest Missouri. We’ve also provided vision assistance and eyeglasses to nearly 300 people.”
The success of the Community Clinic is evident in the stories of the people it helps.
“We recently helped a man who had been out of work for years with severe diabetes,” said Brady. “He was very sick and likely going to die without medical intervention. He learned about our diabetic clinic and scheduled care. Since that time, his health has improved so dramatically that he was able to return to work. He and his wife believe if not for the clinic, he would not be alive today. When you support the Community Clinic, you are saving lives.”
To learn more, visit Community Clinic of Southwest Missouri.
At L&P, we strive to promote good cyber practices within our company and want to recognize Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which is celebrated every October. With cyber threats and crimes becoming more common, it’s more important than ever to know how we can help protect ourselves from them. In honor of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) shared four actions we can take to be safer online:
Tupelo Sleeper goes pink!
Our employees in Tupelo, Mississippi, recently wore pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
