Team 537 believes that giving back to our community is more important than any demo we do. We hold a “Bleed for Bots” blood drive twice a year and average 40 units per drive. Our team members contributed over $120 and 78 gallons of juice over the last two years to a local food pantry. Charger Robotics works with Adopt-a-Highway cleaning up a road three times a year. We also give back through the “Can-Do”program. Soda cans are collected, crushed, and recycled; the tabs are saved and sent to The Ronald McDonald House. We also partner with Action Recyclers, a company from Milwaukee that recycles almost anything and they host a “recycling day”. We adverstise for the event using newspapers and Craigslist ads, posters, and our twitter account to spread the message, and they provide the equipment.

Last year, we started the Button Recycling Program, created with the intention of recycling any buttons that were left after competition. There were recycling receptacles placed throughout the competition area and announcements were made to inform teams about the program. We also asked teams for their “reject buttons” and each day we walked through the stands to find any left behind. Between the two competitions we attended, 8 gallons of buttons were collected.