TI engineer, Gregory Duperon, won a TI Founders Community Service Award for his dedication to volunteering in the community.

Serving as a volunteer at the Salvation Army left a lasting impression on Gregory Duperon.

As a TI intern, Duperon began supporting the Salvation Army by helping serve meals to those in need and cleaning up dishes afterward. After graduating from college a year later, and being hired by TI in a full-time test engineer position, Duperon raised the bar and began volunteering at the Dallas-area Salvation Army on a regular basis.

“This is near and dear to my heart because, unbeknownst to my family, my grandfather was homeless for a while and I wanted give back to people in the same situation,” Duperon said. “It is great working with the folks at the Salvation Army, and they really appreciate it.”

Duperon soon found himself getting up at 4 a.m. on most weekend mornings to help serve breakfast at the Salvation Army, during a time when there is typically a low level of volunteers present.

“They get lots of volunteers at lunch and dinner time, but only had one person serving breakfast and one person preparing food to serve 200 men each morning,” he said. “I help serve breakfast and clean dishes and continue to volunteer on weekend mornings when I can.”

Reaching out a helping hand
Duperon’s passion for helping people in need is broad. In addition to his work at the Salvation Army, he helps restore homes and churches through Habitat for Humanity and Rebuild Dallas and is on the planning committee for the 2011 Oak Cliff Earth Day event.

“At Habitat for Humanity, when they see you’re good at something, they’ll put you in an area and have you help other volunteers,” Duperon explained. “In addition to gaining construction skills, I’ve had the opportunity to lead and organize other people, developing key leadership skills in the process.”

Duperon is also a disaster reserve volunteer in training for the American Red Cross and is an active member of TI’s Black Employee Initiative’s community outreach committee, where he served as co-lead of the initiative’s 2010 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraising campaign.

Supporting students and STEM
Duperon also has an interest in supporting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines and helping students become engaged in STEM fields.

As a graduate student at Georgia Tech, he helped undergraduate students navigate through the curriculum by serving as an informal mentor. As an engineering professional, Duperon is now formally mentoring two electrical engineering students through the MentorNet and MentorJacket programs.

“I had people that took an interest in me as a young student to help me become the person I am today,” he said. “I am a first-generation college student and without the help of others guiding me throughout the process, I doubt I would have been as successful in the classroom and otherwise.”

Recently, Duperon also took part in the Contact Science program as a volunteer at the Haggard Library in Plano. There, he explained basic electric circuit concepts to younger students.

Encouraging others to volunteer
In addition to his own broad range of volunteer activities, Duperon actively encourages others to help people in need.

“Duperon’s volunteer work not only helps those in need, but he also encourages many other TI employees to reach out and explore the community, not only with their money but with their heart,” said Marlon Richardson, a fellow employee who supported Duperon’s award nomination. “He always gives his best, not just 100 percent, but typically goes above and beyond what is required.”

Whether he’s serving the homeless, helping to raise a roof on a home, working with students or learning to help people who have been impacted by a natural disaster, Duperon’s view of volunteering is simple and straightforward.

“If I’ve helped make someone’s day a little better through the time and energy that I’ve spent, it’s all worth it,” he said.