Construction company employees donate 1,692 pounds of food, etc. for storm relief
The Hensel Phelps crew that helped deliver their 1,692-pound donation to the Community Cupboard, from left to right: Marc Amrine, Sherrie Harlow, Will Tebb, Daniel Huante, Doug Smith, Kali Saueressig, Mady Kornegay, Kyle Cadiz and Toby Balajadia on the floor.
Mady Kornegay and her coworkers work long hours, and many hang out together when they’re not working, too. Mady attributes that to many of them having the same values—including valuing community. That shared value is what led to her team donating food and goods to the Community Cupboard at the end of February.
Hensel Phelps, the construction company where Mady works, is a federal contractor and employee-owned. Each of their 12 locations throughout the United States chooses their own organizations to support as part of their Building Together program. Mady, Kyle Cadiz and Kali Saueressig are the core members of Hensel Phelps’ Building Together program for the Pacific Northwest Region. They look for ways to support and give back to the community near their current projects, which includes a large project in Malaga. Sherrie, an administrator for the project who lives in the Wenatchee Valley, suggested Upper Valley MEND as a recipient for the Building Together program.
“We heard about all the floods [in December 2025] and were looking for a way to help,” said Mady.
Because the donations came in from multiple job sites on the westside—including their Pacific Northwest Regional Office—plus the Wenatchee job site, Mady didn’t know how much they were going to have to donate until they started putting it all together. Even mechanical and electrical subcontractors participated. Mady organized the trucks and Kyle and Kali drove over with the donated goods.
“Oh my God, we have a couple of truckloads,” Mady said when everything had been gathered.
More than just food
The team had gathered 1,692 pounds of food and other goods from the Community Cupboard’s most needed items list.
“We were so grateful—not only for the volume of donations, but also for the wide variety of items collected,” said MEND Human Services Director Bob Mark. “In addition to food, it was wonderful to receive pet food, toiletries, feminine hygiene products, and other essentials that are always in high demand.”
Although Mady wasn’t aware they would gather as much as they did, she was not surprised that participation was so high.
“We have a lot of great people we work with who are always happy to help when we do these types of things,” she said.
Mady thinks the giving culture at Hensel Phelps has a lot to do with it being employee-owned.
“I’ve been at Hensel Phelps for nine years. I’ve never worked at a company that’s really backed you up with giving back like they do,” she says. “I’m just so happy with our team.”