Employee Stories
Press Releases
Taking place each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #GivingTuesday is focused on the power people have to transform their communities and the world. As such, we wanted to highlight the ways some of our employees are giving back in other ways beyond their roles of helping babies thrive through their work at Prolacta.
Charity Hudnut, Senior Clinical Sales Specialist, keeps finding new ways to improve her Portland, Oregon community. One passion project that spanned more than 10 years started with a simple idea. Back in 2012, she couldn’t help but notice nothing was being done with the garden beds at her daughter’s school. So, she and another mom got permission from the principal to change that.
Planting vegetables instantly caught the eye of her daughter’s class.
“It exploded from there. All the classrooms wanted to see what we were doing in the garden, so this other mom and I started to build a garden program for the school,” said Charity.
Charity worked with teachers from each grade level to incorporate garden lessons into the curriculum. For example, they planted pollinator plants for the second graders studying butterflies and third graders studying bees.
The program continued to grow, like the gardens, and they realized they needed help. So, they joined the Eco-School Network, a collective of parents from across the Portland metro area promoting sustainable practices in their kids’ schools.
After leading the garden program for eight years, Charity phased out of that role when her daughters left the school. Now, she’s giving back in a new way.
For the past four years Charity has served as chair of the West Linn Arts and Culture Commission to bring more visibility to the arts. Under her leadership, the city hosted its first-ever art show two years ago which has now become an annual event.
“We have a lot of cool art in our city, and a lot of people don’t even know about it. There's a lot in the library I didn't even know existed. So, we started making an archive of all the art in the city,” said Charity.
Beyond their annual event, the commission is increasing awareness with simple bookmarks with a QR code that leads to a map of all the art in the city.
Charity plans to continue her role with the council and is thrilled to be giving back to the community she calls home.
Aly Fuller, VP, Government Affairs and Intellectual Property, uses her passion for supporting the LGBTQ+ community and her legal expertise to give back to refugees.
Since becoming licensed to practice law in 2012, Aly has worked with local legal aid agencies in her communities to take on pro bono representation of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers coming from countries where it is unsafe or illegal to be gay.
“Usually, I get cases right when folks get to the U.S. or when they are ready to file for asylum. I prepare their filings with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and represent them through the whole process including their interview at the asylum office, applying for employment authorization, and keeping biometrics up to date. This can take anywhere from about 18 months to, in the case of my current client, over 10 years,” said Aly.
Recently, one of the cases that she has worked for many years had a positive ending. Her very first pro bono client, whom she successfully defended on appeal, was granted US citizenship.
“This is a big milestone in my pro bono legal career. To see José as an American citizen is the culmination of years of hard work by José as well as his legal team that I was fortunate enough to lead,” said Aly.
José was initially denied asylum and ordered to go back to El Salvador.
“I took his case after his initial denial and represented him at immigration court. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. Immigration court is like a regular court proceeding but the other side is the US government,” said Aly.
With her efforts and the facts in his case, Aly won the appeal and José was granted asylum. Since coming to the US, José became fluent in English, is a Certified Nurse Assistant, Certified Medical Assistant, and is a Community Health Educator and Lifestyle Coach who works with the US government to give back to the country that saved him.
José also works as a Program Coordinator for the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program where he organizes community outreach events and promotes scientific research through the Latino community.
“José has been like a little brother to me since the day we met. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement and I am even more proud to welcome him as a citizen of these United States,” said Aly.
Bradley Hein, Director, Global Communications, blends his passion for cooking and giving back by volunteering at Project Angel Heart. Bradley started volunteering as a kitchen assistant with Project Angel Heart in 1996.
“Throughout the years, I’ve chopped a lot of onions,” said Bradley. On a typical 2-hour shift, Bradley and his fellow volunteers chop upwards of 400lbs of vegetables, primarily onions.
Created in 1991, Project Angel Heart’s founder wanted to do something for his friends living with HIV/AIDS. He modeled it after Project Angel Food, a Los Angeles organization where he volunteered. What started as a pan of lasagna donated by a local restaurant and delivered to 12 clients has grown to home delivery of medically tailored meals to more than 75% of Colorado’s urban corridor.
This year, Project Angel Heart expanded qualifications for meals to include women with high-risk pregnancies. “So, now my volunteer efforts are closely connected to what Prolacta does for preemies’ families,” said Bradley.
“I literally couldn’t eat much of anything during [my high-risk pregnancy]. Everything had too much phosphorus. I was so grateful for the Project Angel Heart meals because I knew they were a safe option for me, and I wouldn’t have to worry,” said mother Alyssa.
“One of my favorite aspects of volunteering is the community of volunteers. More than just the ingredients, we believe that the love we put into preparing the food makes a powerful difference for the people receiving it,” said Bradley.
Although the kitchen was closed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bradley and his fellow volunteers had virtual meetings during their same shift time to stay connected.
“We couldn’t imagine missing a Wednesday night catching up,” said Bradley. Over the years, Bradley has volunteered over 1,000 hours with Project Angel Heart. In September of 2019, fellow volunteers recognized his commitment as the volunteer of the month.
“He spent an hour and 45 minutes in a Lyft to make it to his shift on a snowy night back in February. Bradley brings a lot of humor and warmth to the kitchen crew and we would be lost without him,” said fellow volunteer Steve Bailey.