DENSO Employees Raise $25,000 for Gatlinburg Relief Efforts

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Employees from DENSO’s Maryville and Athens, Tennessee manufacturing facilities have been teaming up over the last few months to raise money for the wildfire relief efforts in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The two locations initiated a “Smokies Strong” T-shirt fundraising campaign, through which they raised $25,000.

The money raised is being split among two organizations, Friends of the Smokies and The Gatlinburg Wildfire Relief Fund. The checks were presented by DENSO Employees on Wednesday.

“The Gatlinburg wildfires were truly devastating to all of us here in East Tennessee. We are very proud of our employees for coming together to help our neighbors who were affected by this disaster,” said Mike Brackett, Senior Vice President at DENSO.

DENSO Employee Victoria Fry had family working in Gatlinburg when the wildfire evacuations began. “My daughter works for WestGate Properties and was onsite that day,” she said. “We are so thankful that she was able to get out unharmed. I purchased a ‘Smokies Strong’ shirt at DENSO to support ‘my people’ as Dolly Parton calls them – after all, the people of Sevier County are my people and these mountains are my home, too. My husband and I are honored to be a part of the DENSO team and so proud of everyone who came together to make this donation possible.”

Employees from DENSO also volunteered with the American Red Cross and Volunteer East TN to help with wildfire and tornado clean-up efforts.

In addition to the money raised by employees, the DENSO North America Foundation (DNAF) made a $25,000 contribution to the American Red Cross disaster fund to help respond to the Gatlinburg, Tenn. wildfires, the Athens, Tenn. tornado, and Greenville, N.C. flooding.