Melissa Cummings has been blown away by the generosity shown by her Workforce Action Team members this holiday season. Cummings, a Workforce Action Team advisor at Peckham Inc. in Charlotte, said team members voted to have final donations for the company’s holiday giving program delayed a week to allow them to receive one more paycheck in which to acquire donations for two local families.

“This is the most generous group of individuals,” Cummings said. “All of our team members give so freely.”

The team chose to work with two organizations this year, making Christmas brighter for two area families. For the second consecutive year, Peckham employees adopted a Potterville family through the Potterville Area Chamber of Businesses program. Team members also chose to work with Housing Services Mid Michigan, adopting a single individual as part of its Adopt a Family program.

“We started collecting donations the second week in December,” Cummings said. “I’m so amazed by their generosity.”

The donations, which were collected for four individuals total, were delivered in time for Christmas.

The Workforce Action Team’s main mission at Peckham is to provide advocacy for individuals with disabilities at the community, state and federal levels, and to help individuals increase self-sufficiency. Cummings said the holiday program is a great way for team members to help local families who may be struggling financially during the holidays find a sense of self-sufficiency.

The holiday program is just one of many small community projects the Workforce Action Team undertakes throughout the year.

According to its website Peckham provides people with physical, cognitive, behavioral and socio-economic challenges, a platform to demonstrate their ability, learn new skills, participate in work and enjoy the rewards of their success. Peckham provides opportunities so clients can experience meaningful employment growth.

Cummings said Peckham team members in Charlotte currently work under two Ability One contracts. The first is to sew garments for United States service men and women. The second is manufacturing harnesses for the auto industry.

“Many of our employees are performing very highly skilled jobs,” Cummings said. “There is definitely a level of difficulty in operating the machines.”