And the Employee of the Year Award Goes To…Mel Arancon!

Congratulations to Mel Arancon, Sunrider’s 2009 Employee of the Year! Mrs. Chen presented Mel with the award on December 12 at the Sunrider Holiday Party, and he was truly surprised!

Mel has been a Sunrider employee for nearly five years, and is a facility technician in our General Services department. His maintenance skills are top-notch, and he’s especially talented with electrical issues. Mel maintains our security and fire alarms, air conditioning units, and completes any electrical project he’s given, saving Sunrider from costly outside contractors. His assignments can be very complex and intricate, yet he always seems to solve and complete projects on his own. Mel is so talented, it would be rare to find a piece of machinery he doesn’t understand! His vast knowledge and strong work ethic helps Sunrider save tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Most recently, Mel was asked to help with Sunrider projects overseas, and without hesitation he agreed! Once again, he was an enormous help, working long hours to make sure his work was perfect.

Congratulations, Mel, on this well-deserved honor, and thank you for all you contribute to Sunrider!

Sunrider Holiday Party

Over the past 25 years, Sunrider's corporate employee Holiday Party has evolved into a “can’t-miss” party. John and I had a wonderful time at the party. We enjoyed a gourmet meal (I had filet mignon), fun employee performances, dancing, and saw 60 employees win exceptional raffle prizes such as cameras, iPods, cash prizes, gift certificates, HDTVs, and a $1,000 grand prize. Employees also received generous year-end bonus checks. Even if you didn’t win a raffle prize, you still earned a bonus check!

My parents not only treat their Distributors like family, they also cultivate a teamwork atmosphere in the corporate office. One of the ways they do this is with the employee performances. When my mom first asked the employees to perform, most grumbled about how she just wanted to embarrass them. Now, it’s a full-fledged competition with bragging rights. Departments will spend several hours rehearsing for their performances. The Information Systems department usually gives the performance to beat. This year, though, several departments were contenders for most entertaining performance. Next year, we’ll hopefully have better lighting so I can You Tube the performances.
My parents appreciate the hard work and talent of loyal employees. Throughout the party, they recognize loyal employees and our 12 “Employees of the Month.” Many employees have worked at Sunrider 5, 10, and 15 years. Several of them reached the 20-year mark this year and Sunrider is paying for their trip to Hawaii!

The employees also gave my parents a special gift: dinner at their favorite restaurant, Matsuhisa, and 2 front row seats to Wicked! Thanks to the employees, my parents will get to enjoy a long

overdue dream date.

Our “Employee of the Year” is Joe Chiang. He manages the programming for the website so many of you may not know him. Before the China convention, he worked around the clock to finish many last-minute projects. We had a few programmers move away, so he was also strapped for manpower. But, he told Mrs. Chen and me that he was the manager for the projects so he was responsible for completing them. He never complained or made excuses and he got the job done! We’re all very fortunate to have a great team-player like Joe working on our website.

One of the highlights of the party is the raffle prizes. This year, Distributors donated over $20,000 in raffle prizes for Sunrider’s corporate office employees. I used to think that winning cameras, iPods, $1,000 etc. was common practice. However, after going to a few parties at other companies, I realize that each prize given away at a Sunrider party is usually a “grand” prize elsewhere. So on behalf of the corporate office, I thank all who donated! We greatly appreciate your support and generosity!

My family and I will be in Hawaii over the holidays. My father, Dr. Chen, will be holding a meeting in Honolulu on December 27th. If you’ll be in town, please join us!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Wendy

SR Party Sponsors

Platinum Sponsor - $2,000: Antonio Marquette

Gold Sponsors - $1,000 & above: Janet & Mack Atkinson, Nhuhao Le, David & Kay Heap, Ky Tran, Dick Richards, Robert Henrie

Silver Sponsors - $500 & above: Ari Moon, Bob & Kay Goshen, Don & Paulette Caster, Kyung & Whan Park, Paul Harrington & Rita Costanzi, Samson & Jarling Huang

Bronze Sponsors - $200 & above: Choy Keng Chan, Kim Chau Phan, Angella Pinkhasov, Mersedes Ramos & Juan Flores, Michelle Thibodeaux & Terrence Young, Jin Hee Ha, Joan & Gil Benjamin, Martha Garcia & Victor Menses, May & Lamar Mortensen, Michael Pham, Nancy Donahue, Pauline Ton Vo, Sue & Steve Yee, Jalaine & John Hamann

Sponsors - Helene & George Barfuss, Phil & Julie Herring, Sharyn Wynters, Asya Lukach, Barbara & Matthew Moore, Carolyn Sheets, Carrie Goelitz, Debbie & Patrick Bubela, Elaine & Jeff Smith, Karen Spencer & Jeffrey Dees, Kay & Bill Hughes, Kyung Pun Oh, Lois & J.W. Emerson, Margie & John Mettnet, Paul & Cheryl Jensen, Robin & Myron Frame, Selina & Sai Yeung, Sunae Hyun, Eneyda Hawkins, Inja Whang, Marv & Geneva Peterson, Jeanne & Fred Guenzler, Catherine Bunn, Juanita Figueroa, Judi Padgett-Creed & Robert Creed, Lynn Arthur, Randy & Marsha Turner, Sharon Farnsworth Ekins, Sharon Samuelsen, Sunhee Lim, Therese Cheney, Jaqueline Mellyn, Janet Diane Palmer, Shirley Just, Kathie & Fred Christiansen, Betty Rowe, Bob & Gloria Englund, Diane Royall, Natalie Johnson, Donna Ehrlich, Doris Jackson, Lorene & Leonard Haertling, Katharine Kennedy