The Connections Committee

Owen Holmes started this company in a Jacksonville house in 1954. Every owner since has kept it here. Today the entire operation runs out of one building in the city we started in, and most of our team lives within a few miles of it.

That's why giving back here doesn't run through a corporate budget and someone in an office deciding where it goes. It runs through a committee of our own employees, people who choose the causes, plan the work, and show up to do it themselves.

The schools we support are the ones our kids attend. The shelters, the blood drives, the families at the holidays, these are our neighbors. This isn't a program run from a spreadsheet. It's our team choosing where to spend a Saturday.

• McKenzie's Run brings mentoring and tutoring to more than 300 students through academic resource centers, with programs reaching as far as Uganda.

• Haiti180 runs an orphanage and community infrastructure work in Haiti. Our team sends volunteers on the annual mission trip.

• Boys and Girls Club gives Jacksonville kids somewhere to go and someone in their corner after school.

• Her Song walks alongside survivors of human trafficking as they rebuild.

• OneBlood brings the bus to our parking lot. Our team fills the appointment slots.

• The Salvation Army Angel Tree turns our lobby into a gift pile every December for local families who need one.

• Best Buddies builds friendship, job, and leadership programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

• Autism Speaks funds research, advocacy, and family support.

• First Coast No More Homeless Pets keeps Jacksonville animals out of shelters through spay, neuter, and adoption.

• Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary gives permanent homes to big cats rescued from bad situations.

• Celestial Farms rescues farm animals and teaches kids where kindness starts.

• EPIC Outreach brings humane education into classrooms.