Mouser Electronics Sponsors Engineering the Holidays with STEM Activities for Local Students
December 6, 2022 – Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader™ empowering innovation, served as a major sponsor of the recent Engineering the Holidays area at the annual Toys for Tots Event, benefitting families in the Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) in Mansfield, Texas.
The holiday event was held on November 30 at the Dr. Jim Vaszauskas Center for the Performing Arts and featured attractions, live performances, STEM activities, music, and food trucks. Attendees were encouraged to bring new, unwrapped toys to contribute to the toy drive, with collected toys earmarked for needy Mansfield ISD families. In total, 16,200 toys were collected at the event, plus more than $22,000 in monetary donations, including toys donated by Mouser employees.
The evening featured an “Engineering the Holidays” area, funded and sponsored by Mouser in partnership with the MISD Education Foundation. It included hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities, such as designing a 3D tree, robot races through Santa’s workshop, making holiday cards with LEDs and simple circuits and engineering personal “snowball launchers” that throw cotton balls.
"Our roots are grounded in serving educators and students. Encouraging an interest in STEM may be just the spark a student needs to continue on in this field," said Kevin Hess, Mouser's Senior Vice President of Marketing. "This event was a great way to help foster the minds of future engineers in our own community and support families that may be struggling this holiday season."
"Mouser Electronics has long been a shining example of what forward-thinking businesses and institutions can do to ensure our students will be prepared for the future," said Lynn Wilkie, Director of the MISD Education Foundation. "We are grateful to Mouser for once again helping to inspire a higher level of education in our schools."
Mouser has a rich history of supporting education in the community. The company donates to the MISD Education Foundation, funding STEM grants that allow teachers to provide a host of student opportunities. Previous Mouser-funded grants have supported expanding makerspaces in Mansfield High School libraries and providing drone technology and robotics kits to help students develop essential skills. Mouser is also a major sponsor of FIRST® Robotics robot-building competitions at the local, state and international levels. Additionally, Mouser is a proud sponsor of the Shine Runners Racing Company from Mansfield's Ben Barber Innovation Academy, a student group that builds and races solar-powered cars.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Toys for Tots program, which was founded in 1947 by Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks. That first year, Marines distributed about 5,000 toys to children in the Los Angeles area. Today, the Marine Toys for Tots Program distributes approximately 18 million toys to 7 million children annually.
For more information on Mouser’s commitment to our communities, visit https://www.mouser.com/corporate-responsibility/.