During this time we also "adopted" families for the Holidays. Individuals from both our Corporate Office and Research Park facility would provide gifts of toys, clothing and various sundries, which were distributed by a local Volunteer Center. The Volunteer Center would target large families who were new to the area and had only minimal income. A typical adopted family might consist of a father working in a minimum-wage job, an unskilled, unemployed mother, and several children ranging in age from toddler to teen. Understandably, the contributions we provided were met with overwhelming appreciation and gratitude—making for a very joyous Holiday Season for both recipients and donors.

In 2008 our Community Outreach Committee identified a strong and growing need in the community for educational support at the local community college level. Rather than continuing to disperse funds through the United Way organization, we decided to pool our contributions and establish a scholarship endowment for Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz County. This endowment has and will continue to provide annual scholarship funding for deserving students to help offset their educational expenses.

Most recently, our Outreach Committee has begun to focus on smaller, not-for-profit local organizations and individuals who are suffering hardships from under-funding and diminishing contributions during the prolonged economic downturn. This direct, one-on-one involvement with the organizations and individuals whom they support has brought a new relevance and personal reference to the act of giving. Committee members present checks to the selected organizations and are able to see and experience the heart-felt gratitude of those on the receiving end. This more direct involvement, which is absent with more anonymous avenues of giving, is one of the primary reasons System Studies has chosen to take a more proactive involvent in our community outreach.

Among the local organizations who have received System Studies contributions in the 2011 calendar year are Santa Cruz SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), I-You Venture (a Santa Cruz organization that recruits, orients and places volunteers with residents of local care facilities), Furry Friends (a Santa Cruz organization that offers Pet Assisted Therapy Services to bring the healing power of animals to those less fortunate in our community), and Easter Seals Camp Harmon (an summer camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains that provides assistance and recreational activities for children and adults with various disabilities).