What makes someone a hero?

In 2020, the United States Census Bureau reported that approximately 42 million people live in poverty, making things like traditional Thanksgiving dinners an improbability for many. It is a heartbreaking truth to see families who should be celebrating the holidays together with turkey, warm rolls, and cranberry sauce are instead faced with an empty table.

In a season that should be filled with gratitude, charities like Thanksgiving Heroes put in the effort, money and volunteer hours to ensure families don’t go hungry on Thanksgiving Day. 

Thanksgiving Heroes is a national nonprofit organization, dedicated to feeding families who are in dire need of a meal on Thanksgiving Day. The founder Rob Adams built this charity due to his own personal experience growing up when money was lacking and food was sparse. It was at this time that friends came to the rescue with food at Rob and his family’s lowest points, becoming true heroes in a time of need. Today, this charity works hard in cities around the United States to give dinners to families in need. 

Adding To The Cause

In their mission statement, Thanksgiving Heroes state: Our ultimate mission is to ensure that no American family goes hungry on Thanksgiving while celebrating the powerful hope, gratitude, and goodness of humanity when we come together to share with one another. 

To answer the question of “what makes someone a hero,” one must first consider why heroes are important. Heroes are inspiring because they offer valuable help in a time of great need. They offer charity and love, and they stand as a symbol for the best of humanity. When donating to a charity like Thanksgiving Heroes, you get to add another piece of hope and light to the cause of humanity. You get to become a hero. 

This year, BKA is honored to donate to Thanksgiving Heroes in hopes that more families will get to experience Thanksgiving with great food and shared memories. Click here to join the cause and add a donation.  

COVID-19 has certainly changed life as we know it here in the USA and around the world. Businesses have been forced to close, employees are working from home and social distancing has become our best weapon against spreading this horrible disease.

Unfortunately, there are select groups of people who can’t work from the comfort of their home. All those who work in “essential” businesses are truly heroes in every sense of the word.

They risk their health every day by working in their industry to help all of us have the food, electricity, internet, and healthcare that we need during these troubling times.

Healthcare workers, in particular, have been hit hard with this pandemic as worldwide supply shortages of life-saving respirators, PPE and N95 masks are having to be rationed out on a daily basis.

Many healthcare workers have resorted to using their own makeshift equipment and masks because there simply isn’t any more certified equipment available to use.

3D Printers to the Rescue!

It’s no secret that I’m a nerd, and for those of you who are like me and who own a 3D printer, or at least have access to one, NOW is the time to answer the bat signal that has clearly been put up by these poor healthcare workers!

There is one simple thing you can do to majorly impact healthcare workers in need.

Ease the Pain on Their Ears

N95 and surgical masks are vital to help healthcare workers protect themselves, but the ear loops on the masks can make a worker’s ears incredibly sore day after day.

Many nurses have taken matters into their own hands by sewing headbands with buttons on them to hold the ear loops from the mask to save their ears from the pressure.

Thanks to 3D printing, you can accomplish this same task in a fraction of the time and at relatively large scale!

I found a design from ZSDesignz on Thingiverse that many of the nurses at our local hospital like. There is a short and long version of this ear loop holder, but the feedback I’ve gotten from nurses is that they like the longer holder as it seems to fit best.

The best part about these holders being plastic is that healthcare workers can easily wipe them down to sanitize them between shifts.

How Many Can You Print at a Time?

At home I have a Creality Ender 3 with a 220 mm build plate, and I was able to print 25 at a time in about 8 hours. At the BKA office, I was able to print 100 at a time in about 24 hours on the Creality CR-10 S5, which has a 500 mm build plate.

**Check out this time-lapse video of the last 100 holders I printed on the Creality CR-10 S5.

These ear loop 3D-printed parts are easy to make — this week alone, I’ve made over 300 of them for nurses at our local hospital.

Cost Per Part

Assuming that a roll of PLA filament costs you $25, and you can make about 300 of these parts with an entire roll of filament, each one of these parts comes out to be about $.08 per piece. This is a tiny price to pay in order to help hundreds of nurses and doctors be a little more comfortable while battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are a couple of gracious pics some of these amazing nurses sent back to me: 

Printer Settings

I used Ultimaker Cura (FREE) to slice these parts, but here are the settings I used:

• Printer Brand: Ender 3
• Rafts: No
• Supports: No
• Resolution: .2 Layer Height
• Infill: 0%
• Filament: PLA

Download the 3D print file I used here.

 

Put That 3D Printer to Work!

While I just gave one example of something simple you can 3D print that can make a big difference, the 3D community has created much more than just ear loop holders.

Makerbot Thingiverse has created a page dedicated to COVID-19 related things that you can print. There are masks, face shields, and much more that people have made that you can print for free to donate to your local clinic or hospital. You can check that page out here.

Now find a design, fire up the 3D printer, and save the world!

In what has become an annual BKA Content tradition, we were honored to be able to sponsor and run in the 12th Annual Operation Smile 5K Fun Run this year.  This was the 8th year we’ve been a part of this awesome event and it was just as amazing as ever.

The Cause

Operation Smile is an organization that dedicates itself to providing surgery repair for cleft lips and palates for thousands of kids across the globe that couldn’t otherwise afford the surgery.  This procedure can be life-changing for these kids, allowing them to eat, speak and smile where they may not have been able to before.  All the proceeds of the Operation Smile 5K Fun Run will go towards the cause. 

The Event Schedule

The event was held on June 8th at the beautiful Jensen Nature Park in Syracuse, UT on 3176 Bluff Drive. The morning was cool and clear with blue skies overhead. A perfect morning for a run! It started out with the main event – the 5K run and 1-mile walk – at 8AM, and racers lined up to support a great cause and get their legs moving.

Following the fun run, the Carter Jay McMerrick Memorial Kids’ K (for kids 12 and under) started at 9AM. The kids ran about a half of a kilometer (or, in my case, they got pushed in a stroller that far) and had a great time. All the kids got a medal, shirt and a small prize for completing the run.

Lastly, the runners all met at the bowery for the raffle ticket giveaway. Every year, generous local sponsors team up to give away a few prizes to the runners for coming out and supporting a great cause. Prizes included frisbees, bath soaps, theater tickets, restaurant gift cards and more.

We had a great showing from the BKA Team at the event and look forward to sponsoring many more!

Get Involved!

Here at BKA Content, we have some team members who have been personally affected by cleft lips and palates, or know someone who has, and it’s a cause that’s grown close to our hearts. For more information on this amazing organization and how you can get involved, please visit the Operation Smile website.

There are three things we love at BKA: Christmas, community and company culture. Despite most of our company being scattered all over the country, we strive to create events that bring us all together. This year, we decided to bring the power of the BKA community together to bring hope, happiness and Santa to families struggling within our community.

This state has been good to us as we’ve grown and found our footing in the industry, so this was the perfect opportunity to give back a little of what we’ve been given. Working with Your Community Connection here in Ogden, we had the chance to sponsor 10 children and bring them a few of life’s basic necessities along with some special toys and presents they’ve been hoping Santa would bring.

The Call for Help

Our writers were invited to join in on the fun and reap the rewards that come from focusing on something bigger than ourselves. With the help of Amazon and their fantastic shopping lists, writers sent toys, coats, shoes, clothing, pajamas, socks, underwear and anything else the kids requested. It was a humbling experience to watch package after package come in as our writers answered the call sent out by those in our community who have fallen on hard times and need some extra support.

The company made up the difference with the things our writers couldn’t send, and we delivered 10 large sacks of goodies to the community center on December 10. The parents now have the chance to wrap the gifts and be involved in Christmas for their children, experiencing the joy that comes from a child’s smile when they realize that Santa made an appearance.

A Small Gift Goes a Long Way

At BKA, we never want to forget the lessons we’ve learned and the support we’ve been given over the years. We want to stay in touch with the needs of our community and always foster a culture of fun, giving and inclusion within our ranks. We thank everyone who sent packages and those who simply included a thought or prayer for these special kids.

All kids should know the joy of Santa Claus and the magic of Christmas, and we are so thankful we could give hope back to those who need it most. May you all have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and always remember that just a simple smile can go a long way toward improving someone’s life. The world is a big place, and we are committed to changing it for the better one small act at a time.

On Oct. 30, 2018, BKA Content was once again honored as one of Utah’s top 100 fastest growing companies by the MountainWest Capital Network. We are extremely honored and humbled to be recognized at this event four years running!

It’s an incredible experience to rub shoulders with other successful companies at this event each year. We applaud all of the other companies who were honored with this award, and we know that they’ve worked hard to get here! It has also been really fun to see new names on the list every year. This just goes to show that there is a lot of promising, young talent here in good ol’ Utah.

A Year of Change

2018 brought some incredible successes, but it also brought along its fair share of changes and challenges. We experienced some of the natural effects of the “circle of life” when it comes to operating a business.

We had a few beloved team members move on to new opportunities. We also brought on some amazing new team members to help us handle the growth we saw this year. We made many fundamental internal process changes and incorporated new technology into our business to help us give our amazing customers even better service. Ultimately, change has challenged us to be better, and it’s paying off.

While we’ve seen a lot of change this year, one thing that hasn’t changed is the beating heart of BKA Content, which is the treat-you-like-family attitude that we have with every employee and customer. Our goal is to create long-term partnerships with everyone we work with, and that can be accomplished only when there is a foundation of trust, quality work, care and respect.

While we are still the same old BKA at heart, the changes we made this year prove that we are a constantly evolving company with a mission to be the best BKA we can be. Refining the way we achieve exceptional customer service and consistent quality, as well as the ability to customize our processes to match our clients’ needs, really is what has set us apart from the competition.

Thank You

We sincerely appreciate every writer, editor, proofreader, team member and client we work with, as you all are the key to what makes BKA Content so great! We literally can’t thank you enough. We would not be where we are without the exceptional people we’ve been surrounded with – and that’s a fact. We feel very blessed to work with each and every one of you, and we are so proud of what you’ve accomplished and have helped BKA to accomplish as a whole.

Starting, running and growing this business has been a non-stop roller coaster ride, but it has all been worth it. We are extremely proud of all that we’ve been able to accomplish up to this point, and we are even more excited about what the future holds.

Sincerely,

Matt and Greg Secrist

Every year, there are over 200,000 kids who are born with either a cleft palate or a cleft lip. This condition can affect the ability of these children to speak, smile or even eat. Operation Smile is an organization that is dedicated to performing life-changing surgeries for kids afflicted with cleft lips and cleft palates that wouldn’t be able to afford the surgery otherwise.

Each summer, Operation Smile holds a 5k Fun Run here in Northern Utah to raise money for their cause where all the proceeds of the race go to benefit Operation Smile. BKA Content had the opportunity to both attend and sponsor the 11th Annual Operation Smile 5k Fun Run again this year, making it 7 years in a row!

This year, the race was held on June 23rd, 2018, at Jensen Nature Park on 3176 S Bluff Dr, Syracuse UT. The event activities that were included were the 5K Fun Run/Walk, the One Mile Walk, the Carter Jay McMerrick Memorial Kids’ K and a raffle to give away prizes donated by local sponsors.

Here at BKA Content, we have some amazing members of our team that were born with either a cleft lip or a cleft palate (or have family members that were), so this is an issue that hits close to home. Whenever we can, we like to be able to give back to a worthy cause – especially ones that help kids in the community.

Whether or not you have a connection to someone with a cleft lip or palate, you can still get involved to help these kids. For more information on the what the organization does and how you can donate, see the Operation Smile Fun Run website. Look forward to seeing you there next summer!

We joke about being hangry when we go more than a few hours without food. I’ve likened myself to a zoo animal that has very specific feeding times and gets growly when I don’t get a snack or a meal is delayed.

Sometimes we blame our inability to focus in morning meetings on the fact that no muffins were provided. As adults, we all laugh at these things. But there is nothing funny about children who face hunger on a regular basis.

As many as one in six kids in Utah don’t get enough to eat on the weekends. During the week they rely on school meal programs. On Saturday and Sunday, however, their nutritional needs aren’t always met. This makes them more vulnerable to health and behavior problems, and when they return to school on Monday they face learning difficulties.

The Utah Food Bank created the BackPack Program to mitigate these problems, discretely providing children in need with healthy, easy-to-prepare meals each Friday.

Our team at BKA recently put together 150 bags filled with popcorn, granola bars, crackers, Rice Krispies Treats and other snacks to be distributed in conjunction with the BackPack Program.

While this is just a small drop in the bucket compared to the upwards of 50,000 packs of food the Utah Food Bank dispersed through the program last year, it’s a fun surprise that we hope the children at several of the distribution sites will enjoy.

You too can join the fight against childhood hunger by donating food, time or money. Click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities with the Utah Food Bank.

With the holidays upon us, the spirit of giving is in the air.  This last month, we had the privilege and opportunity to hold a collection drive for Operation Gratitude to give back to our troops.  Operation Gratitude is on a mission to thank every American that serves, and they do that through sending care packages, collection drives, letter writing, craft projects and more.

 

Supporting Our Troops and First Responders

We held a collection drive in conjunction with Veteran’s day to show our appreciation for the brave men and women who serve our country overseas or right here on American soil. They all sacrifice so much to keep us safe and restore order in times of devastation and disaster. Our management team made 100 paracord bracelets and assembled 100 hygiene kits that we put in boxes to send off to the troops.

 

 

We enlisted the help of our writers and editors —and even some of our children!—to write letters and draw pictures to send to first responders, new recruits deployed troops and veterans. When there was a little room left in the boxes, we filled them to the top with Beanie Babies and flashlights.

 

How You Can Help

You don’t have to wait until next Veteran’s day to show you care. There are many ways to express your thanks through Operation Gratitude, and they can be done any time of the year.  We encourage you to get involved however you can!

With the weather taking a nosedive and snowfall just around the corner, the holiday spirit is really starting to kick in. This is especially fitting since we were recently invited to take part in a local fundraising/charity event at Rice Eccles Stadium that involved both holiday spirit AND kicking.

 

 

Yesterday, Tuesday Nov. 7, we had the opportunity to attend the Startup Santa Tailgate at the football stadium at the University of Utah. The Startup Santa Tailgate is a children’s book drive fundraising event that is presented/sponsored by Boomsourcing. To gain entrance to the event, local businesses were asked to bring at least 5 new children’s books for each team member that wanted to attend.

Once inside the stadium, participants got the chance to kick field goals to try and earn some fun prizes. One member of our team, Jon Bingham, even held the record of the second longest field goal made at 51 yards (at least for a while). There were also food and drink items that could be bought, with all proceeds going towards the book drive.

 

 

We had a blast at the event and quickly learned how hard it is to kick a pigskin more than 25 yards (see video).  More than that, though, it felt good to contribute to a cause that is making a difference in the lives of thousands of children in our community and throughout the state.

The Startup Santa initiative uses events like this to collect new books and money to support childhood literacy programs for low-income families in Utah.  Last year, they collected around 87,000 books and nearly $437,000 in donations to support underprivileged kids. This year they are hoping to do much more than that.  At BKA Content, words are our business, so being able to give back in a word format (books) is an absolute perfect fit.

We know there are many ways to give back during the holiday season and we encourage you to do so in whatever way you see fit. If you’re still looking for ways to help this holiday season, the Startup Santa initiative might be a great place to start.  See how you can help by visiting their website here.