| Community Service |
| In our business especially, we
rely on the community at large for panelists first and foremost, but also for employees
and physicians. As a business, we realize that the studies we do put a good deal of
spendable income back into the local economy. However, considering this as the sole means
of payback to the community seemed to us an insufficient contribution to our local
communities. The idea of social responsibility really took hold as a part of our long range plans for IRSI during the early 1990’s when we established our Maine site. Here was a beautiful area where, we felt certain, we could find some way of "giving back" to the community and the environment. Our first undertaking in this arena was to help initiate and underwrite a winter camp program with Kelmscott Farms in Maine. With our financial support this farm, which specializes in the preservation of rare breeds of domesticate animals, started a highly successful program which brings area children to the farm for five days of hands on experience. Since that initial plunge into corporate giving IRSI has expanded its participation to other area programs including children's programs, land conservation, landmark restoration and the arts. Most recently, the Rockland office, headed by site manager Kristen Flemal, is supporting the Bob Gagnon Cancer Care Fund. The fund was created to help bring a radiation treatment center to the Rockland area. IRSI will lend its financial support with the participation of our paid study volunteers. Every individual who participates in a current research study will be given a special Reimbursement Form which they can use to designate a portion of their payment as a contribution to the Fund. During the course of a year IRSI utilizes hundreds of local residents in a number of clinical studies. With strong participation from our study volunteers we hope to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the Bob Gagnon Cancer Care Fund. Although this program has just started, we feel that this model can be applied to many other fund raising efforts to become another means of building ties to the local community. |
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