“The marching band and the school of music were everything to Eric both before he was sick and after,” Eric’s dad Scott, said. “And I think the love and support he got from that community is really what kept him going for as long as he did. So, I will always do everything I can to give back to them, and help sustain that school whenever possible.”
This support includes ongoing fundraising for Eric’s endowment. A few months ago when Scott’s business Humphrey Strategic Communications hosted its annual Pacific Northwest BI Summit, a weekend retreat for top business intelligence leaders and data warehousing industries, Scott also ran a tandem fundraiser that netted Eric’s endowment $30,000.
“Each year I have done something to raise money for one of my favorite charities at this summit. This year it just made sense that we would raise money for the endowment. I plan to deliver the check at the OMB Alumni event in early September,” Scott said.
Three companies gave $10,000 and another donated a webinar package –while other vendors donated items like educational ebooks that focus on industry practices.
The three main corporate contributors to the Humphrey’s fundraiser were: Teradata, WhereScape Software, and Dell Statistica. Each donating a large sum in support of Eric’s Endowment. When asked, the spokesperson from each company stated some variation on, we have all lost someone to cancer, it has touched nearly everyone in our company and it is our corporate responsibility to give back. A few of them knew Eric personally, and wanted to support the thing he loved.
“There is good business benefit for these companies but I think the driving force is they want to contribute to the community,” Scott said.