During the excitement of the holiday season, the spirit of community service and volunteerism is especially strong among chapters and members of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Despite another difficult year for the construction industry, contractors remain dedicated to assisting others wherever the need is greatest.  

Providing for local families, specifically children, is a priority for ABC chapters across the country. The Arizona Builders Alliance received an outpouring of support from member companies during its December toy drive. The ABC Indiana Chapter sponsored a food drive and gift card collection benefiting the Community Harvest Food Bank, and ABC’s Texas Gulf Coast Chapter collected food and toy donations from their members for a local food bank.  

Bouchard Insurance, a member of ABC’s Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, brought holiday cheer into the office while helping a great cause. Niki Bouchard, the company president’s wife, decorated a Christmas tree for the Festival of Trees auction benefitting the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens (UPARC). Bouchard Insurance employees were so impressed with the tree, which was themed “Jolly Ole Tampa Bay,” they decided to purchase it for the company lobby. The purchase raised $450 for UPARC.  

For the children of Oklahoma’s 486th Civil Affairs Battalion, Christmas can be an especially difficult time because many have a parent deployed overseas. Not wanting any of these children to go without a Christmas gift, the ABC Oklahoma Chapter continued its annual tradition of collecting age- and gender-specific toys so each child would have something to unwrap on Christmas morning.  

Balfour Beatty Construction supports needy families in Fairfax, Va., through a partnership with Shelter House, an organization that serves the homeless. This December, Balfour Beatty employees wanted to give families an especially memorable holiday—collecting 33 toys, $350 for new strollers and $1,275 in gift cards, as well as raising $1,955 during their holiday party.  

Stellar, an architecture, engineering, construction and mechanical services firm and member of ABC’s Florida First Coast Chapter, made the holidays a little brighter for critically ill children by gathering gifts and distributing them to patients and their families at Community PedsCare, a Community Hospice of Northeast Florida program. This was Stellar’s fifth year partnering with Community PedsCare for its holiday adopt-a-child program.