Today, we take a moment to celebrate and thank one of the 2021-2022 Celebrate United Award Winners. Birchwood Foods/Kenosha Beef International was awarded the Shining Star Award because of their longstanding, and continually growing, commitment to United Way of Kenosha County. Kimberly Molinaro, Employee Health and Safety & Corporate COVID Coordinator at Birchwood Foods, accepted the award and gave us more insights into Birchwood Food’s history of giving.
Birchwood Foods is a longstanding, family-owned business who’s support towards United Way began with the company’s founder, Frank Vignieri, in 1936. Today, Birchwood’s third-generation leader, Dennis Vignieri, upholds his family’s values of supporting and empowering our community.
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Upon entering Birchwood Food’s main office in Kenosha, one might notice the company’s extensive award collection, complete with trophies, plaques and many more indicators of major milestones. Look a little closer to find a personal collection of previous UWKC Celebrate United Awards. The company was recognized consistently from 2006-2010, demonstrating their continued dedication to serving Kenosha County.
“Birchwood Foods believes really strongly in supporting and empowering our community,” says Molinaro. “That was instilled in our CEO Dennis, by his grandfather Frank, continued by his father Charlie, and is something that our leadership and our employees feel very strongly about continuing.”
Recently, the team looked to ramp up their employee health and education efforts. As they explored ways to do so, they found how significant of a role UWKC’s services and programs play in our community. Noting how closely our mission aligns with their internal initiatives, they turned to increasing their support and overall contribution to United Way of Kenosha County.
The team also continues to educate their employees on available services and how to take advantage of them as well as other ways to get involved including volunteer opportunities. Additionally, like Festival Foods, employees are encouraged to donate from day one on the job via a payroll deduction.
We thank Birchwood Foods for their continuous commitment and recognize the whole team as SHINING STARs for taking the lead in community dedication.
United Way of Kenosha County is honored by the commitment of our community partners. Through the United Way Workplace Campaign, we work together to create a thriving community where everyone has access to and participates in education, financial resources, and quality health care. Our Annual Celebrate United Awards, recognize and thank the individuals and partners who exemplified the caring power of our community throughout their workplace campaign.
Stay tuned to learn more about the other Celebrate United Award Winners or click here to read the announcement.