BASF in Seneca was recently recognized for its strong support of area veterans and their families with the Hammer Award, a national honor distributed by Purple Heart Homes, which provides housing solutions for disabled and aging veterans. The Hammer Award recognizes organizations for their commitment and dedication to helping veterans and their families with projects that allow them to safely remain in their homes.
BASF VETS Team members and their families (L to R) Sean Alexander, Carl Hudson, Tommy Holland, Tim Alexander, Lydia Ellenburg, Adam LeRoy, Purple Heart Homes beneficiary Earleane Martin (seated) and Martin’s son.
On Oct. 3, Purple Heart Homes Golden Corner Chapter President Larry Druffel presented the prestigious award to leaders of the BASF Seneca Veterans Employee Team (VETS), which is made up of team members who are active service members, former service members and those who support veterans. The team offers opportunities for employees to connect with veterans, both internally and externally to BASF, and to support the local community. Over the past two years, the VETS team has spent more than 560 hours and more than 10 weekends making home repairs and improvements in and around Seneca to improve quality of life for veterans and their families, in addition to 135 volunteer hours for other organizations.
This spring, BASF’s VETS volunteers rebuilt a safer and easier-to-access wheelchair ramp for the widow of a local Korean War veteran. The VETS team improved another home’s masonry and built a new deck for a former United States Marine Corps diesel mechanic who now lives in Iva, South Carolina, among nearly ten projects they completed for local veterans in 2022.
“It is an honor to spend our weekends recognizing fellow veterans for the priceless work they’ve done and volunteering to provide safer ways for them to access their homes,” said Todd Alexander, co-chair of the BASF Seneca Veterans Employee Team, which is chaired by Adam LeRoy.
More projects are forthcoming for the VETS team at BASF in Seneca.
(L to R): BASF Employees and their family members: employee Jason Overfelt’ s father, Valerie Mayes’ son, Purple Heart Homes beneficiary Mr. Lacombe, Lydia Ellenburg, Valerie Mayes, Art Schermbeck, Schermbeck’s wife, Brian Eiltes, Jason Overfelt. Right photo: Jaxon Capps, Barry Mitchel, Braxton Capps, Capps’ father, Steven Capps, Steve Vislocky, Purple Heart Homes beneficiary Anna Bowen-Wilson, Art Schermbeck and his wife (present for the project but not pictured are Dave Sanders, Karen Marshall and her husband)
“BASF is a wonderful place to work for veterans, those transitioning from the military to civilian life, or people who are still in the reserves,” said Adam LeRoy. “We have such strong support from leadership for veterans. In fact, BASF’s site director, Elba, saw the work we’d been doing with Purple Heart Homes and decided to purchase and donate an entire trailer full of tools so our team didn’t have to borrow and bring our own tools to projects.”
“BASF really values the skills you build in the military, like discipline, teamwork, perseverance, problem solving, and we reward you with great pay and benefits for these important abilities,” Site Director Elba Lizardi said.
BASF currently has dozens of open positions and is looking for new team members, including veterans, reserve members and those returning to civilian life. At BASF in Seneca, hourly compensation starts at $21.50/hour and increases with experience. To see open jobs and learn more, visit www.basf.us/sc.
About BASF in Seneca
BASF’s site in Seneca is one of five BASF sites in South Carolina. The Seneca site employs 425 employees and additional contractors. This site is a specialty chemical catalysts manufacturing and precious metal refining facility. BASF customers use those products to produce a wide variety of products including pharmaceuticals, water treatment media for the removal of lead, arsenic and other impurities from drinking water, for fertilizers, herbicides, auto-emission catalysts, plastics, fragrances and more.
About BASF
BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 16,700 employees in North America and had sales of $25.9 billion in 2021. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com/us.
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 111,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €78.6 billion in 2021. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.
Be the first to comment on "BASF Veterans group in Seneca wins national award for supporting local vets"