Christmas in October: The Gift of Giving

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2024

This year, Oct. 5 marked the kick-off to Christmas in October, an event where business volunteers gather to give back to the communities that share the Kansas City area with as their home. On average, more than 4,000 volunteers join the cause to work with homeowners and raise the standard of living in their neighborhoods. Christmas in October has been renovating homes and supporting the community for 41 years.

Established businesses and philanthropic groups have been involved with Christmas in October for more than a decade. Kiewit, an engineering consultant firm with a regional headquarters in Lenexa, has been involved in the event for nearly 10 years, Brett Carlgren, vice president of design-build management at Kiewit said. 

“We started with a small team and did one house in 2014. We’ve grown it this year; we’ve got five houses going on and about 60 volunteers out here today. People who are skilled tradesmen from Kiewit, people who are in our engineering office, people from our finance department, are just about everywhere,” Carlgren said. 

Solidarity is in the air when the volunteer groups hit the ground running and begin working alongside homeowners to finish a project. A few dozen doughnuts in the morning and lunch at the park with your colleagues are enough for nearly 60 Kiewit volunteers to join Christmas in October this year. It brings together employees who otherwise might not work closely with one another in a normal day-to-day setting. 

“It’s all skill levels and an awesome way to get people from different groups in a company together,” Carlgren said.

For companies like Honeywell, Christmas in October is a perfect fit for a longstanding partnership. Each year, Honeywell provides 40 hours of volunteer time to its employees, creating an environment that fosters pride in giving back to the community, retaining the employees involved, and getting them to join the event year-over-year.

While a company’s teammates largely drive Christmas in October, bringing family is not uncommon, as an extra pair of hands is always welcome. For Eric Wollerman, president of Honeywell FM&T and leader of the Kansas City National Security Campus, that is just the case as his three children joined him to stop and visit all 13 homes they were supporting. 

“Coming out today and being able to give back and make an impact here in the community is a pretty amazing thing,” Wollerman said.

Just as Christmas in October has been helping to raise safety and restore dignity in neighborhoods, companies like Black & Veatch have been with them nearly every step of the way. 

For 40 years, Black & Veatch has been putting together groups to volunteer for the event, said senior vice president and project director for renewables at the engineering giant Brent Burger. This year, the company organized 18 teams. 

Happy to participate again and happy to introduce new team members to Christmas in October, Burger finds joy in helping his company celebrate volunteerism.  Ushering in new interns to the idea of giving back to the community early on in their careers indoctrinates them to be more open to giving back more in the future as they find themselves climbing the corporate ladder. 

“The Black & Veatch motto is building a world of difference. We say we’re building a world of difference right here in our backyard, in our own community. It’s very important, especially for our interns, to say, ‘Hey, there’s more to working at this company than just a job’,” Burger said. 

Burger also recognizes many of the homes in need of care are multi-generational. Homes that have sheltered families for years also carry a legacy that is vital to Kansas City and its people. Burger wants families to stay here in Kansas City as it continues to grow, a city where they want to live. 

While Black & Veatch has been a working partner with Christmas in October since nearly its inception, for some members of the company, it is still a fresh sight to see. Mario Azar, CEO of Black & Veatch, has been in his leadership role since 2022. Despite having his hands occupied with other responsibilities, he sees the underlying factor that makes Christmas in October so symbiotic with his company—its culture. 

“To Black & Veatch, culture is really foundational to us,” Azar said. “We pride ourselves in our culture, and we really truly believe that culture is what makes us unique as a company. Part of that is giving back to the community. It’s caring for one another. As employee-owners, we care for our own, but also care for others around us and our communities.”

Chris Norquist, vice president of people and technology operation at Burns & McDonnell, said “camaraderie” is the word he would use to describe his experience working with his team. 

“I think it’s easy to have taglines about giving back, and we obviously care about our community. But when you see over 200 employees coming out and giving it their all, giving up a beautiful Saturday like we have today, and doing it for folks that just need it desperately, it’s so cool,” Norquist said.

Norquist humbly admits he might not have the best “do-it-yourself” skills, but he knows when his team comes together, they can be greater than the sum of their parts. Hauling trees or unwanted items, cleaning, and painting are sometimes all it takes to lift these homeowners to a better state of living. 

“We’ve got 15 homeowners this year that have their to-do lists completely wiped out in some cases. Fixing some safety issues that have been hanging out for way too long,” he said. 

Additionally, the pride that comes from his sense of camaraderie isn’t only self-fulfilling; it’s a call to action.

“I encourage all of you, if you’re interested, it’s super easy to jump in,” he said.