If you were walking down the halls of Lifetime's world-headquarters in Clearfield, you would notice something a little out of the ordinary-- Scarecrows lining the walls in many of our buildings. Not your average scarecrows... some have one eye, and others are missing important scarecrow features (other than being more cute than scary). There's a story behind them, and what they represent to those who walk down these halls frequently.

After nearly 25 years in Northern Utah, Lifetime Products enjoys longstanding relationships with the local community, and participates in a variety of local events and causes. Just down the street from Lifetime's Clearfield facility and our world-wide headquarters, is the South Clearfield Elementary School. Lifetime has partnered with the school on various programs, and they even proudly display a banner in front of their school that reads "Lifetime Products Partners in Education". 

A few weeks ago, supervisors and Human Resources people at Lifetime gathered pencil boxes and backpacks to deliver to the school. The supervisors were being trained in Lean manufacturing, learning techniques and applying them to a hands-on demonstration where they assembled pencil boxes with various school supplies inside. A total of about 300 pencil boxes were assembled between three training sessions. At the same time, Human Resources ordered some backpacks for emergency and crisis planning, and had a surplus. The result was a donation of pencil boxes and backpacks for the school, and much needed help for under-privileged students. Their principal and front desk staff has been using the items for students whose families could not afford school supplies. Since my last visit they reported that the supplies were given out very fast, and were nearly gone. They said that the students and parents really appreciated the supplies, and that they were excited to be able to hand them to these students.

In return for this donation, students from a young class gave Lifetime some artwork to display-- little scarecrows that now line our halls. Many people at Lifetime live close to the facility and have children who attend the school. So to us, when these little scarecrows look at us with crooked eyes and scribbles on their overalls, it means we can work another day knowing we've made a small difference, even as small as a set of pencils to draw a smile.