Several years ago Piedmont upgraded their phone system to
a VOIP system to improve to streamline communication as the company was
expanding.
The existing system that we had in Greenville was only a
few years old at that time. The old Samsung system was boxed up and placed in
our storage room after the new installation where it sat and began collecting
dust.
Late this past year during some much needed spring
cleaning, Mark Swinson came to me and asked, "H.B. , what do you want to
do with this phone system?" I pondered his question for about twenty
seconds when I got a little nudge to call Walter Strathy, Executive Director of
the 3rd Street Community Center. The center is based in the old 3rd Street
School which was built in 1929. The Pitt County School System had put the
beautiful old Florentine style building on the market a few years back. It was
finally purchased by a local plastic surgeon, Dr. Richard Rizutti (PSG
Customer) and his wife Meredith. The building was in a beautiful neighborhood
when it was built, but now it is in one of Greenville's most distressed areas.
The Rizuttis had a vision to revive the old place and help the children in the
community. It has been two years since Third Street Community Center opened and
there have been between 800 and 1000 volunteers working on the site, including
the folks in the neighborhood.
As you can imagine, they are in constant need of funding
to keep the place up and to launch new programs.
Now, back to Mark
Swinson's question and my nudge to call Walter. That very morning, Walter had
been having an extended devotional time. He said that at the end of his prayer
time he began to write a list of capital needs for the center. At the top of
the page was a phone system. Within an hour I called and said, "Hey
Walter, would you be interested in a like-new Samsung phone system for the
center?" His staff later told me that he was jumping up and down and
shouting for joy after we ended our conversation.
Today, Scott Johnson and I were invited to a monthly
lunch that they host for local businesses. The system has been installed and
works as well as it ever did. They said that the building is much safer for the
kids and programs run smoother because of it. Walter and his great staff send a
big thanks to Piedmont Service Group.
H.B. Moore
VP & GM
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Walter Strathy, Cindy Nicholson, Darlynn Sakowski, Laura Horn trying out Third Street Community Center's new phone system
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