Called to Serve
One of Logical Systems’ core values is the importance of making the world a better place for us all.
We believe it takes every individual applying himself/herself to the aid of others to make the impact needed. All employees at LSI are given up to one week paid time off each year to volunteer for charitable causes. Employees are encouraged to reach outside of their own interests to serve the larger community.
National Impact
Animal shelters across the United States are bursting at the seams with puppies and dogs waiting to find a good home. Volunteers like LSI’s Scott Larson play a crucial role in helping them to find better situations.
As a dog owner himself, Scott has always had a soft spot for canines of all breeds. He and his wife Maggie are the proud owners of two rescue dogs (Lola and Phoebe) and have fostered a great number of other shelter animals. A few years ago, Scott decided to take his love for man’s best friend to the next level by volunteering as a transporter for local animal shelters and rescue organizations (including Homeward Bownd Siberian Husky Rescue in La Motte, Iowa and Fur Fun Rescue in Lisbon, Iowa). Using their own vehicles, fuel and time, volunteer transporters move dogs from kill shelters to animal rescues and foster homes where they can eventually be adopted. Scott has successfully transported more than 100 shelter dogs to reputable animal rescues since he first began volunteering.
At Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado, one of LSI’s employees (a licensed scuba diver) volunteers to help paraplegics and quadriplegics experience scuba diving.
In a reoccurring act of selflessness, LSI employee Dan Dorcas spends time each month volunteering for Craig Hospital in Denver, Colorado – a world-renowned hospital that specializes in research and the neuro-rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord and brain injuries. Dorcas regularly participates in Discover Scuba, the hospital’s therapeutic recreation program that provides patients – including both paraplegics and quadriplegics – the opportunity to experience the therapeutic and physical benefits of scuba diving. Read Dan’s story in his own words and view more photos here.
This past year in Houston, Texas, several groups from Oklahoma and Tennessee came together to work with inner-city children with the Impact Youth Summer Program.
This program engages youth through “daily programs involving Bible lessons and activities, singing, literacy classes, field trips, service projects, camps, and many other daily activities.” (www.impacthoustonchurch.org). The program is meant to encourage inner city kids to improve their literacy and grow in faith.
Approximately 300 children, ages 4-11, participated in the program.
The children were divided into age groups and then further divided into smaller reading classes of about 10. After the reading lesson, the participants were served lunch that was provided by the Houston Food Bank, and then the groups rotated through various Bible-themed stations that included drama, puppets, crafts, games, and a snack.
On Tuesday afternoon, LSI’s volunteers took the kids on a field trip to the Children’s Museum of Houston.
Each child has a story, and many of them are very sad. The hope is that the volunteers were able to help the children see that they are important and there is love and good in the world.
Also while in Houston, LSI’s group went to visit and have devotional time with the residents of Independence Hall, an apartment complex for low-income seniors, the elderly, and/or handicapped.
International Impact
Haiti Medical School Design Project
Léogâne, Haiti, has a population of 90,000 and is located 25 miles west of the capital Port‐au‐Prince. It was at the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake and has not yet fully recovered.
LSI was part of a team gathered from across the United States and Canada that was mobilized by Engineering Ministries International (EMI), a nonprofit Christian development program dedicated to providing design assistance to other nonprofit organizations in developing nations. The team was asked to provide an initial design for a medical school, Université Épiscopale d’Haïti (UNEPH), that would be added to undeveloped land next to the campus of an existing nursing school. This would be the second medical school in Haiti.
The goal for this design was to provide sufficient detail to allow for accurate construction estimates so that project funding could be raised. The EMI Project Team was tasked with the following:
- A survey and assessment of the existing site and structures
- The creation of a Master Site Plan for the UNEPH Medical Training school. This includes:
- Architectural conceptual designs
- Civil engineering assessment
- Electrical capacity, safety, and sufficiency
- Structural Investigations
- Management of water and wastewater infrastructure, including sewage considerations
- The preparation and delivery of a final report detailing the Master Site Plan, technical drawings and general recommendations to help UNEPH moving forward.
The EMI team provided a design report that included a spreadsheet load analysis and a high level power distribution drawing. The electrical design was based on a load projection derived from a combination of allowances for square-footage-based utilization and specific special loads that were expected. Even though there was a local utility available, a PV solar power system with backup diesel generators was preferred.
All parties involved were happy with the outcome of the project, and LSI was proud to have been able to play a part.
At the CLAPAI Orphanage in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, one of LSI’s employees delivered donated laptops to the children.
These laptops were intended to help teach the kids how to type with some preinstalled software. They were also used to provide help to the older kids in the orphanage to improve what they may already know about computers.
The children were also presented with books to read, notebooks, and writing materials for them to practice writing as well as take notes during their classes.
CLAPAI is located in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria with a population of 900,000. Many of these 900,000 suffer from HIV/AIDS, and a substantial number of the kids in this orphanage are kids whose parents died from this disease. There are also a number of children who have lost their parents due to the religious conflicts that have risen in Plateau State since September 2001.