Community Service

Chen and Associates is actively involved in numerous professional societies including the American Society of Engineers, Florida Engineering Society and the Florida Water Environmental Association. Through these organizations, employees have assisted with adopt a highway programs, beach cleanups, and outreach programs such as MathCounts, a yearly math competition in junior high schools to encourage interest in the engineering profession.

For Thanksgiving 2007, 2008 and 2009 and Easter 2008 and 2009, Chen and Associates collected food for the Cooperative Feeding Program, an organization working with the United Way. In July 2008, the company also sponsored a clothing drive to benefit the Vietnam Veterans of America.  In addition, the Committee collected 49 toys for Toys for Tots in December 2007 and 161 toys in December 2008! Chen and Associates also collected toys for the Children's Home Society in December 2009. In March 2009, the company collected clothing and sporting equipment to benefit the Women’s Transitional Home for homeless women and their children.


The Committee has also organized volunteer events with Habitat for Humanity in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. In August 2007, employees assisted Habitat for Humanity of Broward with the construction of five homes. Team members worked with over 70 other volunteers to complete both exterior and interior painting of three homes as well as delivery and setup of cabinetry. A dozen Habitat-sponsored homes have been built in the neighborhood over the past several years.  The homes, located in Pompano Beach, are the latest in the group’s efforts to revitalize the area. In July 2008 and , employees again assisted Habitat for Humanity of Broward with the construction of homes in Dania Beach. Employees assisted with roofing activities for four new homes.  In January 2008, our Miami employees participated in the 10th Annual Blitz-Build, an accelerated construction event. By completing daily goals, ten homes were completed over the course of two weeks. Volunteers, homeowners, and sponsors worked together to build houses, friendships, and a better future for homeowner families and the Miami-Dade community.

In March 2008, Chen and Associates employees volunteered in the Florida Everglades west of Homestead. Two park rangers lead employees through the park to explain the environmental issues created by invasive plant species in the park and how they are being addressed. Such species include the Brazilian pepper tree which is being permanently removed by digging up the tree and surrounding soil and forming ‘mounds’ of materials that need to be removed from the park. 

Employees traveled the Old Ingraham Highway hiking and biking trail which winds through sawgrass prairie and cypress forest. While walking the trail, employees performed trail maintenance where necessary.
 

Volunteers from Chen and Associates got their feet wet while cleaning up the reefs and beaches of Broward County for the Ocean Watch Foundation's Reef Sweep and Beach Clean Up. The event, held on June 14, 2008 at various beaches around Broward County, marks the 20th anniversary of the Foundation's founding and clean up efforts. With the help of over 6,800 volunteers, the Foundation has collected and disposed of over 27 tons of garbage in their two decades of service. The Chen Team collected over 20 pounds of garbage from the beach surrounding the Pompano Fishing Pier.

Chen and Associates also participated in the ASCE Young Member Beach Clean up on September 20, 2009. The event was organized in conjunction with GCCITE as part of the Broward County Coastal Cleanup. The ASCE/GCCITE group collected nine pounds of garbage from the Pompano Beach Fishing Pier.

In October 2008, Chen and Associates participated in the first annual Lauderdale-By-The-Sea (LBTS) October GreenFest. The event kicked off The Broward County Adopt-A-Street Program in LBTS; Chen and Associates signed up for Washingtonia Avenue, located one block south of Town Hall and cleans the street four times each year.

Chen and Associates also participated in the 32nd Annual Waterway Cleanup on March 7, 2009. The Annual Waterway Cleanup is Broward County’s largest environmental event; more than 2,000 volunteers worked at 36 locations across Broward County to clean nearly 35 tons of trash and debris from our waterways, rivers and canals. The Chen Team collected trash and debris at two sites: Riverside Park in Coral Springs and at the Dania Beach Pier. 

In August 2009, Chen and Associates also participated in Habitat for Humanity in Miramar, FL. The team accomplished landscaping for various home sites in the neighborhood.