Photo: Pictured above, Schnitzer provides school supplies for Attalla Elementary for the upcoming school year. (Courtesy of Johnny Cross)
By Katie Bohannon, News Editor
Schnitzer Southeast Steel Industries in Attalla recently implemented a program developed to aid its community. Schnitzer adopted Attalla Elementary to provide the school, faculty and students with supplies and efforts necessary for their learning environment to succeed.
Schnitzer General Manager Johnny Cross conducted an interview with The Messenger discussing the generous initiative.
What inspired Schnitzer to adopt a school?
“In the southeast region, Schnitzer has chosen and is committed to two major community outreach initiatives – education and hunger. We plan to continue our involvement with food drives at a local food bank in each community that we serve. Upon the decision for each location to adopt a school, the local managers were tasked with selecting a deserving school in their community that had specific needs, or schools in which Schnitzer employees were already involved in a volunteer capacity. I was already familiar with Attalla Elementary, and selected them based on what I learned about the school, its students and their needs.”
Is this the first year that Schnitzer has hosted the program?
“Yes, this is Schnitzer’s first year hosting the school adoption program.”
Do you plan to continue the program each year?
“Our current plans are for our school adoption with Attalla Elementary and other adopted schools in the southeast to be a continuing project.”
What do you hope Attalla Elementary gains from this program?
“It is Schnitzer’s hope that Attalla Elementary students see that there are companies and professionals in Attalla that sincerely care about them and their success in our community.”
How did participating in this program affect you personally?
“We have supported local high schools for years with bottled water for sports teams. They, in turn, have sold bottled water at sporting events to raise money for their respective programs. That involvement as well as our new relationship with Attalla Elementary is quite rewarding to me personally, professionally and makes me proud to be associated with a company that does care about serving the communities in which they serve. It is also quite rewarding for me to pass along these initiatives to my co-workers here in Attalla. I am also so impressed at how hard that the staff of Attalla Elementary work to involve individuals and businesses in our area to support the school financially and with volunteer projects.”
Why is this program important?
“Schnitzer feels that it is important for each of our locations in the southeast to remain involved in the communities that we serve. Our success is built on the trust and confidence of local industries and individuals, and it is our honor to be involved in efforts such as Attalla Elementary and our continued commitment to food drives.”