Alisha Copfer, Author at Influencing Identity

Donation Spotlight: An Infinite Mind

Donations are a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays.

They are also a great way to highlight our customers; especially our repeat customers. An Infinite Mind is no exception to this. Coller Industries has had the pleasure of working with An Infinite Mind for the past six years and enjoys supporting their cause. While a simple donation of name badge holders may seem small, it means a great deal to the recipient. “We are very appreciative of the continued support of Coller Industries. It not only means a lot to me personally but also to our attendees to know someone cares about this cause,” says Jaime Pollock, Founder and Director of An Infinite Mind.

An Infinite Mind works with adult survivors of childhood abuse who have dissociation and DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). They are a non-profit organization that educates and advocates for these adult trauma survivors. They offer workshops, support groups and supportive therapies to improve the lives of these survivors. An Infinite Mind also holds an annual conference for these survivors, their loved ones, and mental health professionals.

“The conference is priced to cost in order to keep it affordable to all who want to come. With the continued generous donations from Coller Industries, we are able to keep our costs low, which in turn keeps the cost of the conference low,” Pollack graciously said.

As part of this conference, Coller Industries provided a donation of badge holders, inserts and lanyards. These items will be used for volunteers, speakers, and attendees during the “Healing Together” conference. “The conference is private and secure so if a person does not have the coveted name badge, they cannot enter. The name tag is a very important piece of the conference,” said Pollack.

In the past, Pollack described An Infinite Mind as a dedicated and hard-working organization. “We’re very passionate about this cause,” she added. Here’s a hats-off to our friends at An Infinite Mind!

Donation Spotlight: Water Mission

“Water Builds Life,” says Lisa Cottingham, of Water Mission.

Water Mission, formerly Water Missions International, sees the need to address a global water crisis. Lisa Cottingham, Director of Development for Water Mission, explains, “We view the global water crisis as a problem that needs fixing, not a cause that needs unending donations. We are resolving the crisis as we scale the work. The global water crisis is enormous, urgent; and is desperate for innovative, break-through solutions. Therefore, we aspire to be experts and best in class in all aspects of our work.”

Water Mission is a nonprofit Christian engineering organization that designs, builds and implements safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. Since 2001, Water Mission has used innovative technology and engineering expertise to provide access to safe water for more than 3 million people in 52 countries. Water Mission has over 200 staff members working around the world in permanent country programs located in Africa, Asia, North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

“Our Mission is to be a best in class Christian Engineering Ministry that transforms lives through sustainable safe water solutions,” stated Cottingham. The organization’s values include compassion for those in need, excellence in their work, and integrity in all their relationships and activities.

Due their name change, Water Mission recently went through a rebranding phase. Part of the rebranding included needing new name tags for their organization.

Coller Industries stepped in to help out the effort with a donation of UV Name Tags with Water Mission’s new logo.

“The new, rebranded name tags from Coller Industries Incorporated will help us present our brand and mission to the world,” said Cottingham. A UV color logo is a full color printing process which allows for quality, high resolution images with bright colors and gradients.

“The generous (donation) from Coller Industries allows us to devote more of our resources to providing safe water around the world,” said Cottingham. Water Mission also maintains a news blog to keep followers up-to-date on their actions and activities.

Donation Spotlight: Bethesda Thrift Shop

Our customers are amazing! And to help all of our customers realize how important they are to us, we’d like to spotlight a donation that we’ve recently made. We were contacted by Scott Glidden of Bethesda Thrift Shop in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Bethesda Thrift Shop is run by Bethesda Lutheran Communities. “They are a Christian organization that provides homes for people with developmental disabilities across the country. They create connections that support people on their journey to live the best life possible.”

Glidden shared the following mission statement with us. “(We are here) to enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through services that share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

Coller Industries provided a donation of Medium Plus Mighty Badges™ to Bethesda Thrift. Each Mighty Badge™ comes with a reusable, metal back plate, a printable insert, and a plastic lens that snaps onto the back plate to make the whole system work. This product is a wonderful option for those who need a quick, reusable name badge for volunteer positions.

“We use your name badges to recognize our volunteers for their hours of service. Some of our volunteers have over 19,000 hours, so they are very proud of their badges,” said Glidden. “The volunteers have just loved them in the past, and it is nice to see how much it means to them to give them one. I always let them know that they were donated by Coller Industries.”

Glidden describes Bethesda Thrift as “a place that welcomes volunteers who help support our mission. We pride ourselves with the fact that we have paid staff and volunteers with disabilities working in our store. We have demonstrated that people with disabilities have different skills and abilities and are able to have meaningful jobs in our community. We have helped many of them find stable rewarding employment.”

Bethesda Lutheran Communities is a national leader in providing homes and support, promoting awareness, and advocating for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They operate in 14 states with more than 300 program locations and they succeed through the passion of their employees and volunteers who make a difference every day in the lives of those they support.

Personalized Custom Luggage Tags

custom luggage tags from plastic name tags printed full color or laser engraved

Create your own unique way to identify your baggage during the holidays. With the holidays nearing rapidly, many people are starting to plan for their holiday travels. In the process of booking flights, packing your bags and getting to your destination, one minor detail can be overlooked. How do you find your bags at the airport or train station once you get to where you need to be? How about personalized, custom luggage tags!

With so many different types of luggage tags to choose from, trying to find custom luggage tags that meet your needs and expectations can be tough. When people think of luggage tags, typically they picture credit card sized plastic tags that require an insert you write your name and address on. While these type of tags are useful, why not create something that is unique and special to you?

Many of our name tag products can be used to create personalized tags for your luggage. Laser engrave plastic name tags with your name and address. Or, print them in full color with a logo or background to really make them personal and easier to see when trying to locate them on a busy, spinning baggage carousel.

Stock Template Plastic Tags

Choose from eleven professional templates to create a laser engraved luggage tag. Multiple colors are available in this two-ply plastic material. Each tag will be engraved with text that you choose. These make the design easy and also provide an inexpensive way to go custom.

Custom Design Plastic Luggage Tags

Use your own custom design for your laser engraved luggage tag. Create your own text with a special font and request a punched slot for easy attaching to your baggage.

Full Color Tags

Show your creativity with full color, digital printed name tags on a plastic material. The thermal transfer process captures your logo in crisp, bright full colors. The logo and background color may extend off the tag (bleed) and text can be printed in any color. These are truly the most unique way to go! And don’t forget to request the punched slot to attach these to any luggage you have.

Hey Day, Name Tags and Becoming Friends

Hey Day celebration has become a tradition at Auburn University. While to most people across America, this day represents a gathering of cultural exploration and historical treasury, Auburn University in Alabama has a different idea of what the celebration means. Hey Day at Auburn University is one of their oldest traditions and dates back to World War II. Originally, this holiday began as a welcome back to students who had fought in the war. Today, however, the day is meant to showcase Auburn University’s friendly atmosphere.

hey day name tags name badges reusable badges

And what Hey Day wouldn’t be complete without the presence of name tags! Layton Dyess, assistant director for the event at Auburn University stated, “Even though (it is) centrally located at the Greenspace, you can’t escape campus without getting a name tag.”

In an excerpt from The Auburn Plainsman, the campus newspaper, Kris Martins writes, “Though the entertainment for each Hey Day stays similar, every year the theme is different, according to Jacob Coley, assistant director for Hey Day and sophomore in biomedical sciences. This year’s theme is ‘Saying Hey Beyond Today.'”

What is Hey Day?

“It’s all kind of about depth and making a friend on Hey Day,” Coley said. “We want people to come into Hey Day and meet somebody new and have some deep conversations and allow that to carry over beyond Oct. 7. That’s the goal this year.”

Jacob Tofani, director of the holiday, hoped the event would encourage new relationships. “We have conversation cards on all the tables,” Tofani said. “Hopefully that will get students talking around to each other. We’d really like people to make new friends and actually have meaningful relationships past Hey Day.”

Adhesive name badges and reusable name badges are great tools for meeting, and remembering, new people. Not only are they easy to use, but they can be used over again or recycled. They are an inexpensive way to provide personal identification to those in a group or other surrounding that are new to each other and need to get to know one another, and possibly become life long friends.

To read the full article, visit The Auburn Plainsman.