The occasion was Take Your Child to Work Day, and about 200 kids and their parents, all employees of Constellation and its subsidiaries, filled
Port Discovery children’s museum to put together baby care packages and sandwich lunches. For many of the kids, it was fun and games. They built sandwiches faster than Constellation employees could pack them up. “This is making me hungry,” said 10-year-old Nicholas Budzynski as he topped off a sub. But Constellation officials and parents said the important thing was teaching the kids the importance of volunteering. While the annual ritual may often involve kids bringing their toys into mom and dad’s cubicle at many companies, Constellation, one of Baltimore’s most generous corporate givers, uses it as another way to boost corporate — and individual — citizenship. Jill Alexander brought her grandson, 8-year-old Donovan Shuler, to encourage him to help others, she said. Alexander, a 39-year employee of ’s finance department, said she did the same thing with Shuler’s father when he was a child. “He’s learning about volunteering and helping others, and that’s the important part,” Alexander said. In past years, the event focused on efforts to comfort Maryland soldiers overseas. This year, Molly Shattuck, wife of Constellation CEO Mayo A. Shattuck III, said the aim was to expose the kids to a broader variety of ways to help others.
The kids packed 300 baby care packages with baby wipes, ointment, bottles and pacifiers for delivery to homeless mothers, and they made 700 sandwiches for Baltimore soup kitchen Our Daily Bread. They also brought books to be donated with notes reading, “Given with love by Constellation Energy kids.”