Title: Texas Animal Rescue Team Awarded Samsung Community Impact Grant
Publish Date: 6.28.2019
Category: Community Involvement

The first dog Crystal Robbins ever fostered was a pregnant Pitbull she found abandoned on a roadway. That pooch went on to have a litter of 11, which Robbins placed in loving homes. That was just the beginning of establishing her mission with Every Life Matters Animal Rescue (ELMAR), a non-profit organization devoted to rescuing and finding forever homes for dogs and puppies, many with serious medical conditions. Years later, grants, donations and volunteers fuel her organization, which saves dogs and puppies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Southern Texas.







Samsung Retail Strategy Manager Jori Robinson is a volunteer with ELMAR, and she nominated the organization in February for the Samsung Community Impact Grant – an employee-driven corporate social responsibility program that awards up to $5,000 each month to qualifying non-profit organizations. In order to qualify for a Community Impact Grant, an organization must be nominated by a Samsung employee. The program aligns with Samsung’s commitment to shared prosperity by supporting the causes that are near and dear to employees.







“Because of the [Samsung] Community Impact Grant, we were able to rescue, feed, spay, neuter and get shots updated for seven puppies, and we’re working to adopt them out to loving families,” said Robinson, who works at Samsung Electronics America’s Plano, TX location. The $1,000 grant also funded medical treatment for two of the seven puppies, she said.

“ELMAR saves puppies that otherwise might have been euthanized or died from disease in a shelter,” Robinson explained. “Most shelters are bursting at the seams, and they have to make tough decisions about who gets to stay. With the Community Impact Grant, I’m able to help ensure at least a few of those get to live a good life with loving families.”







ELMAR founder Robbins said every partner in the process makes a difference.

“We try to take the dogs that others won’t whenever we can, and we couldn’t do it without donations like Samsung’s,” said Robbins, who operates the organization and coordinates the rescues and fostering – all without a physical office. “We also have a really great group of volunteers and fosters, and together we’re able to make it happen.”

ELMAR was chosen from among the grant applications by a review panel of five Samsung employees. Tariq Hasan, a Senior Manager of Business Planning and Strategic Accounts for Samsung Electronics America, is one of the of the all-volunteer Community Impact Grant selection team.



“Our purpose at Samsung is to make people’s lives better, whether it’s through cutting-edge technology and easy integration into daily life, or giving back to the communities we live and work in,” said Hasan. “The Community Impact Grant program is a great avenue to do more of what we strive to do.”

Samsung is celebrating the Community Impact Grant program’s one-year anniversary by doubling the monthly total donation amount in June to $10,000. Over the past 12 months, Samsung has supported 47 employee-nominated non-profit organizations through the program, totaling some $65,000 in donations.