Connectria is known for its award-winning managed and cloud hosting services, but what some may NOT know is our commitment to our local St. Louis community, including a special place in our hearts, The Bridge (www.bridgestl.org).

TheBridge is a wonderful non-profit organization which provides a sanctuary for homeless and at-risk persons in St. Louis. Meals and support services for basic human needs are offered by a staff intent on eradicating homelessness by guiding guests on a path to self-sufficiency. Guests are provided not only food but other essentials such as clothing, shelter and computers with internet access.

Connectria employees volunteer at dinner services month after month and have been doing so for years. This includes preparing and serving food as well helping with cleanup and other tasks around the kitchen. But this is only the tip of the iceberg though.

Connectria donates its hosting services for the Bridge’s website as well as an essential health information database. Every person seeking help at the shelter is given an ID that contains their health information. If they are ever found in an unfortunate situation, their ID can be scanned for instant access to their health information including allergies, current medications, medical conditions and etc. Needless to say, this ID and the back-end database it is connected to can potentially save a person’s life.

In more recent news, Connectria’s CEO, Rich Waidmann, raised enough money to provide all Bridge employees with health insurance. While 50% was pledged by Connectria, the other 50% was almost single handedly collected by Rich at a Bridge fundraising event last November. This was such an emotional moment that people around the room were brought to tears. See a few photos from the event here.

So although we spend a lot of time talking about managed hosting and cloud hosting, we always leave a spot in our hearts (and time of course) to dedicate to local organizations helping our local St. Louis community such as the Bridge.

We challenge other local St. Louis businesses to join the No Jerks Allowed movement and donate their time and money to the Bridge as well. For those outside St. Louis, help out those less fortunate and eradicate homelessness beginning with shelters in your own town.

Have an inspirational story you would like share of people helping those less fortunate in your community? Join the No Jerks Allowed movement and become a NinJA. Share your story today.