In celebration of Veteran's Day last month, the sacrifices our local veterans have made for this country were honored as 52 Southwest Florida Veterans traveled to Washington, D.C. for the first Honor Flight of the Collier County chapter. Honor Flight Network, an organization established in 2005, provides war veterans a free trip to Washington to visit the National World War II Memorial and other memorials in the nation's capital. Guardians fly with the veterans on every flight providing assistance and helping veterans have a safe, memorable and rewarding experience.
Serving as inspiration to this important event, local community citizens decided a local chapter was needed. In just five short weeks, the chapter was established, funds were raised and local veterans and guardians were invited to
participate - just in time for Veteran's Day! All of this would not have been possible without the many people in Collier County who stepped up to
help our veterans, including Arthrex's own Purchasing Card Administrator, Linda
Valentine, who serves as secretary on the board of the local chapter. "I have been privileged to serve on the Board of Collier County's first Honor Flight organization," said Linda. "Our first flight, which was comprised of 52 veterans, had 42 from WWII and 10 from the Korean Conflict. Arthrex has been very generous to us by agreeing to support us with a donation, and allowing our employees to volunteer."
Linda invited her team members to participate in welcoming the veterans home. "Our department took an afternoon as a team-building exercise and made home-made cookies for the veterans to snack on. As they returned to the Fort Myers terminal, many shouted to me how much they enjoyed the cookies."
Andrew Rzasa, Card& Travel Programs Manager, took part in the welcoming reception to honor the veterans. "I can say without hesitation that the honor to stand and welcome that flight home was all mine. It was an incredibly humbling and uplifting experience that I sincerely hope others will partake in for future flights. Just an incredible experience!"
Today
and every day, Arthrex is committed to supporting our veterans through ongoing
charitable initiatives in the community, such as the Honor Flight. The next flight
will be in spring 2014, and Linda plans to go as a guardian for one of our
veterans. "For myself, I can only say it is the absolute best thing I have ever been involved with," she says.
To view a photo slideshow montage of the day's Honor Flight events, click here.
Sandy Santos, senior employee relations specialist at AMIE, had the opportunity to be"Principal for the Day" at Corkscrew Elementary on November 8, 2013. As principal, Sandy worked with teachers to set goals for
the school year, anchor the morning news, and award prizes to students. She toured
the school and shadowed teachers. 
"She toured our
building and saw the importance of the HR walk-throughs, as employees
continuously approached us with questions and concerns," said Sandy. "She spent time
with Arthrex's Mike Koszewnik, talking about training and teaching
approaches. They also spent time talking about her desire to establish a
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) academy in her school and
potentially have a selected group of little scientists visit our facility. As
you can imagine, she is looking to establish a strong bond with Arthrex for the
good of her students."
Arthrex Meeting and Event Coordinator Kathleen Meek has a special connection to the Sochi Winter Olympics. Her brother Patrick will be competing in the men's 5,000 meter speed skating event on the U.S. Olympic Team with the possibility of also competing in the 10,000 meter long track. 
As the No. 1 killer of American men and women, heart disease affects the lives of many Arthrex employees and their families. For this reason, Arthrex is a proud local cause sponsor of the Go Red For Women® movement, among other American Heart Association initiatives. 
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), each year, more than 3.5 million children ages 14 and younger are treated for sports-related injuries, making the prevention of such injuries a top priority in the sports and healthcare industries.
"The result, as it would turn out, was catastrophic. One tackle, one fateful play that would now alter the next year of his Alex's life and create the biggest challenge he had ever faced in his young life. But in the process, it would also allow him to appreciate what it meant to receive the highest levels of orthopaedic sports medicine care and understand why his dad always said he worked for the greatest, most innovative orthopaedic company in the world!
Power" themed canoe once again this year -
that's two back-to-back wins in a row! They blew the competition out of
the water, finishing 25 seconds faster than the second place team! 
During Reinhold's presentation of Charlie's Years of Service plaque, he spoke from his heart about how he met Charlie more than 20 years ago on a fishing charter that Charlie was working on at the time. Charlie asked Reinhold if there might be a job at Arthrex for him and Reinhold gave him his business card. A year later, after meeting Reinhold again on his charter, Reinhold hired Charlie on in inventory and the rest is history. Over the years, Charlie has held several jobs at Arthrex, including working in Receiving driving a forklift, assembly in the machine shop, performing maintenance duties on the Facilities team and in recent years, Charlie has taken on the role of lead shuttle driver for employees and guests traveling between buildings on the Inc. campus.
"It's been a pleasure working with Reinhold - he's always led by example. I've learned from Reinhold the importance of being personable, being a good listener and remembering people's names. Just to see his work ethic and drive over the years has been amazing." 
While growing up in Immokalee, FL then attending Florida Gulf Coast University, Data Coordinator Daniel Reyna always imagined he’d begin his career and one day raise a family in his home state. But when Danny graduated and wasn’t able to find a job locally, he took the opportunity to move to Charlotte, NC where the company he had been interning for offered him a position.
Champions
for Learning (CFL), formerly the Education Foundation of Collier County,
celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Night of Champions event January 28,
2015 to honor companies like Arthrex and individuals who have made an impact on
students' lives in the community. 
Arthrex Manufacturing Inc. Engineer Kyle Armstrong recently had the unique opportunity to volunteer at Corkscrew Middle School, helping 6th graders design and construct solar-powered cars. The program, aimed at enhancing STEM education (science, technology, engineering, math), is part of a nationwide competition implemented to improve students' knowledge of renewable energy concepts. Each team received a kit with just a solar panel and a motor and the rest was up to the imagination of the students.
The students have continued working on their cars and running tests as part of the engineering process. The winning team will go on to attend the district competition.