In addition to building robots, TALON 540 believes that is essential to give back to the community. TALON 540 uses a three-pronged approach towards community outreach which involves contributing to the FIRST community, the Godwin High School community, and the Greater Richmond community.
Within in the FIRST community, TALON 540 helps in a multitude of local FIRST events, including volunteering at local FIRST Lego League (FLL) competitions for the past eight years, as well as a FIRST Tech Challenge event. One major project for TALON 540 involves helping to organize and run the annual Robot Rumble, an off-season event held at the Virginia State Fair in the Richmond Raceway Complex. The team helps inform the public about the competition and FIRST while working at a booth during the two weeks before the event. Additionally, the team demonstrates the competition to the general public with standing-room-only crowds for two days. During the Robot Rumble competition, the entire team helps with various aspects of organizing the event, including field setup and reset, manning and maintaining the scoring system, playing music, and tearing down the field after competition. There is a strong partnership between TALON 540 and other local teams, donating help and sharing both resources and manpower.
TALON 540 is prominent throughout Godwin High School for participating in sporting events, pep rallies, and most open-house events for the school. TALON 540 has held dodge-ball games at open houses for Godwin High School and the Science, Math, and Technology Center, launched t-shirts at football games, “pie-d” teachers, and shot basketballs using the robots during a fundraising basketball game. The team even participated in the homecoming parade, coming in third place with a twenty-dollar float.
TALON 540 has also been very involved in the Richmond community, engaging both in spreading the message of FIRST and participating in community service projects. The team has participated in many events such as Big Brother Big Sister Duck Race, Jake's Reindeer Race for The Maynard Foundation for Childhood Cancer, Richmond Area Program for Minorities in Engineering (R. A. P. M. E.), and Engineering Explorers. TALON 540 has also participated in a number of Greater Richmond Technology Council events such as the TechSummit (2006 and 2007), and the Legislative Reception. Demonstrations where the team presented the robots and let others drive them. For Jake's Reindeer Race, the team supplies students to help at registration, to operate water stops, as well as to participate in the race. After the race, students hold an activity with the robots for the younger participants in the race, and help with cleanup after the event. Similarly, at the State Fair, TALON 540 holds demonstrations and allows the public to view the competition and drive the robot.
Community outreach is extremely important to TALON 540 because, with the volunteers, parents, mentors, and supporting organizations, and sponsors that reached out to us, our team would not have been able to mature into the organization it is today.