It's a dirty job

“You know, it’s not every day you see a pink garbage truck rolling down the street,” says Nancy Bryant, vice president for Information and Systems at WCA. “Being in the waste industry and ‘going pink’ provides a unique opportunity to catch people’s attention.”

WCA, a solid waste company founded in 2000 that employs approximately 1,100 people in 12 states, has raised more than $20,000 to support breast cancer research at MD Anderson. WCA takes pride in offering outstanding customer service and giving back to the communities it serves. Creating awareness of and support for MD Anderson’s breast cancer research strengthens WCA’s team culture philosophy and creates a way to give back in a truly meaningful way, says Bryant.

“In 2012, the WCA team decided it was time to ‘give back in a big way’ to the communities that support us,” says Christy Williams, executive assistant. “The WCA team worked hard to find the most impactful cause we could get behind as a company.”

The decision to support MD Anderson was easy, says marketing communications specialist Chris Maltba, “knowing how so many people are touched by cancer, especially breast cancer.”  

To raise awareness, WCA took “going pink” to a new level by painting a variety of its garbage trucks, roll-off containers and commercial dumpsters. To raise funds, the company hosted a golf tournament on a course built, ironically, on a reclaimed landfill and launched Pink Shirt Friday, a popular program for employees.

“Pink Shirt Friday is a fun way for our employees to support MD Anderson,” says Williams. “We donate $4 for each person who agrees to wear a pink shirt on the last Friday of each month and $1 each time they wear it.”

“We couldn’t be more proud of the WCA team and the momentum they’ve generated,” says Bryant.  “We feel when it comes to raising funds for MD Anderson, the sky’s the limit.”