It's National Volunteer Month!! Thank you to all volunteers out there. Our community needs and appreciates YOU!
We treasure individuals who set aside the time to volunteer with us. Likewise, we treasure our corporate volunteers and workplace teams who impact our mission on a large scale.
Some of these corporations have helped out with fun, special events that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to facilitate for our clients, while others have gone as far as to plan these events.
Here’s a recap of some of our corporate volunteer year:
Over the Summer of 2020, Nationwide sent our clients some Virtual Words of Encouragement, consisting of bright messages with images across a series of PowerPoint slides. This was a wonderful way to show our clients that people from right outside the doors in their community cared about them. These 20+ Nationwide volunteers touched our clients with warm reminders that there is hope, they are valued, and they are worthy.
In November, KPMG joined us for a Conversation Hour with our DD clients. We were well into the throngs of the pandemic at this point, so this allowed us to give the guys in our program the ability to chat with new, friendly faces. Many of the guys in our DD Program, especially, love to talk to people and meet new friends. This was a great experience for all involved, and we would not have been able to plan for this special event without KPMG’s support!
For Evening of Light (EOL) and Portraits of Recovery (POR), our two largest fundraising events of the year, corporations like Grange Insurance, Nationwide, and Accenture have provided incredible support as sponsors.
These 3 organizations have contributed aid from so many angles. Grange Insurance has donated high-quality printing of invitations and materials for EOL for years. They also provided volunteers to do beautification projects at Alvis facilities, and one of their employees served on our EOL Committee and recruited many volunteers for EOL for many years. Currently, Natalina Fickell, Community Relations & Associate Programs Specialist at Grange, serves on Alvis’ Board of Trustees. Accenture is represented on Alvis’ Board of Trustees. James Benseler was a former chair, and Natalie Sisto Means is a current board member. Accenture has provided large grants which strongly impact our workforce development program and helped our clients attain livable wage jobs through certifications. This past year, Nationwide helped us during COVID-19 by providing a large monetary donation for extra food for our Amethyst families, PPE for staff and clients, and additional support to the Family and Children’s Program, as Amethyst navigated full-time care for children during the school year due to classes going virtual.
Finally, the holidays provided a forceful influx of warm reminders, well wishes, mementos, decorations, and symbols of kindness to let our clients know that their community cares about them.
The Columbus Bar Association Young Lawyers Committee, who typically goes above and beyond to put together a holiday party for our DD clients, was unable to do so this year due to the current climate with the pandemic. In place of this, their members had a writing party over Zoom to craft special holiday cards for the guys, personalized with first names and including candy canes, candy, and mini chocolates.
Members of the Easton Inclusion Council at Huntington Bank’s Easton corporate location were key help in our Holiday Cheer Initiative, which saw volunteers from across the country taking part to help brighten our clients’ spirits for the holidays. Huntington Bank volunteers created assorted crafts, including wreaths, bows, and other decorations.
As you can see, corporate volunteer support is diversified—even during COVID-19! We look forward to expanding the ways that our corporate groups can get involved with our mission, as dangers from the pandemic slowly lessen with time. At the same time, this year has shown us that virtual and remote projects can be just as special for our clients.
Corporations are large, so having their support allows us to plan creative activities that we otherwise would not be able to do alone. Our clients are benefitted from a vast range of corporate entities who support our mission. So today, we thank all of the corporations who have partnered with us in the past, and/or are currently partnering with us.
Thank you for helping us turn lives around by 180 Degrees!