Charitable giving important to AERON Lifestyle Technology

From its headquarters on North Third Street in Fairfield, AERON Lifestyle Technology, Inc. has quietly grown to a multimillion-dollar business supplying full-service design-to-manufacturing of aromatherapy diffusers and other lifestyle products for customers around the world.

Getting its start in 1996, founders say the company has been fortunate to experience consistent growth to reach mid-size status in recent years, offering both private label services to major international retailers, as well as its own consumer brands, Belle Aroma and Drive Time.

Co-Founder and CFO Monica Hadley said in 2006 the company began a modest charitable giving program which has since grown to a fund of $85,000 annually. The fund, overseen by AERON executives, is administered by committees at AERON operations around the world: Mason City, Iowa, Pflugerville, Texas, Pachuca, Mexico, Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, China.

Employees at each location have a say in which nonprofits and charities receive the funding. Direct volunteer projects such as Habitat for Humanity and toy and clothing drives are also parts of the program.

Office Manager Maxine Bigelow-Myers is delighted her employer is so committed to charitable giving. As chairperson of the program, she has added on-site blood drives to the list. She notes that more employees sign up to donate each time.

“Donors love this way of paying it forward,” she said.

To date, AERON’s charitable giving dollars have gone to nonprofit children’s programs, food banks, addiction recovery, suicide prevention, animal rescue, arts and entertainment centers, community betterment projects, health foundations, and public and private school projects, among others.

Academics say that charitable giving for corporations is good business. That may be true, notes Executive Chair and Co-Founder Patrick Kosar, “but charitable giving is really about sharing the success we’ve enjoyed over the years, especially where it matters the most: in our home communities.”