We like to give back.

Read Terri's story.

Read Laura's story.

Meridian supports charity and volunteering whole-heartedly.  We take care of each other and take care of the community. We even have programs in place that allow our employees to volunteer during work hours without having the time out of the office deducted from their leave balance.  See the stories below that feature the goodwill of our own employees.

In October 2007, along with 5 volunteer business leaders, Terri spent 10 days in Bulgaria, an impoverished society, working with women at risk.  Many of these women are sole supporters of their families, have started businesses, yet are struggling to survive. Terri's group spent quality time meeting and visiting their businesses and homes, with the goal of helping them become successful in the free enterprise sector. This is a new and not well-understood concept in this post-communist country.

Of equal importance, Terri's group formed alliances with teenage orphans who will soon "age out" of the country's support system, currently living in state-run orphanages.  This segment of the population will become the country's next problem unless they are trained in business skills and life skills for survival in the open economy.

During this 10 days, Terri worked as a resource to Integra Bulgaria, a NGO whose mission is to establish "islands of integrity" in the Bulgarian free-enterprise sector.  The goal was to discover which of their problems could be solved by consulting and training efforts offered by a US-based task force. Terri explained, "We found their greatest need to be education and mentoring, which we agreed to provide on an ongoing basis.  Each of the 6 volunteers plan to return to Bulgaria on a rotational basis, to deliver free seminars designed around the content most often requested by our 'clients'."

Terri's 2009 Volunteerism. "In January 2009 I returned to Bulgaria to deliver a continuing education program to struggling business owners.  Each struggling business owner at the program started their business with small loans from Integra Bulgaria, a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing "islands of integrity" at a stage when the Bulgarian free-enterprise sector is developing. I secured copyright permission from Jim Collins to use his book "Good to Great” alongside my personal examples of challenges and successes at Meridian Imaging Solutions. The goal was to apply the "Good to Great" concepts to their small businesses, in place of the big-business examples dominant in the original material.”

Laura Smith is actively involved in our community: academically, athletically, and philanthropically.

Academically. Laura holds PTA Positions on a volunteer basis at both of her children's schools in Fairfax County.  In addition to participating in various fundraisers throughout the school year, she held the title of Event Manager for a Fairfax County School's first annual Golf Tournament, raising money and awareness the school's booster organizations.  Laura also held the PTA Officer position of "Treasurer" for the 2005, 2004, and 2003 school years.

Athletically. Laura captains and participates in various USTA Adult tennis leagues in Northern Virginia.  In 2006, she captained the Women's Team that won the USTA Virginia and Mid-Atlantic team championships.  From there they competed in the 2006 USTA National Championships, held in October in Hawaii.

Philanthropically. Laura and her family donate regularly to various local charities and non-profit organizations.  Over the past 9 years, both Laura and her husband have served as volunteers within their children's youth sport organizations in various capacities, including that of coach, treasurer, team parent, board member and general volunteer.   Laura also oversees Meridian's various philanthropic efforts including equipment donations and green-recycling practices, as well as high-school internships for local students, who work for Meridian for several hours during the week towards school credit.