ADS Security donates time, resources to Second Harvest Food Bank

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—ADS Security, which serves more than 70,000 commercial and residential accounts throughout the southeastern United States, announced on Nov. 25 that it had successfully concluded a peanut butter drive with impressive numbers, bringing in 1,686 jars for donation.

ADS turned the company-wide peanut butter drive into a competition, complete with three competing teams: Goobers (comprised of ADS Corporate office employees), Salmonella (staffed by central station employees), and PB Kings (made up of ADS Nashville branch employees). Whichever team brought in the most jars of peanut butter would win the contest, the appreciation of the beneficiary, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, and an ADS-sponsored pizza party thrown by ADS regional vice president and GM of ADS Nashville Craig Leyers. “Since I have been at ADS Security, I have been impressed with our level of community involvement. While one may joke that pizza is what fueled this contest, I think that we would have been just as successful with a simple plaque,” Leyers said in an email interview. “It is clear that this contest was both about the internal bragging rights and the impact that our efforts would have in the Middle Tennessee community.”

Team Salmonella was the winner of the drive, offering 795 jars of peanut butter, nearly half of the total donation. Salmonella team captain Lela Mullins, senior VP of monitoring operations at ADS, felt her team performed admirably. “The ADS central station team always pulls together, both in our daily work and in service to our community,” Mullins said via email. “We have previously participated in food drives, but with the sluggish economy hitting close to home, we felt that our contributions were needed more than ever.”

According to ADS President and COO John Cerasuolo the effort was a great way to bolster company morale and help those in need during the holiday season. “This effort displayed in a wonderful way the competitive nature and community service focus of our ADS Security team,” Cerasuolo said via email. “I could not be more proud of every one of our employees.”

ADS chose to donate peanut butter because it is a non-perishable, high-protein and is in constant demand at food banks for just those reasons. Local grocery stores, including ALDI, Food Lion, Kmart, Kroger and Sam's Club, were willing to pitch in and provide donated jars of peanut butter to the three teams.