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Employers Encourage Workers to Volunteer
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Several other local companies have become important resources to the D.C. area nonprofit community.
Deloitte, for instance, contributed $250,000 and more than 1,000 hours of professional time over two years to help nonprofits create disaster preparedness plans. In February, the firm sent 90 employees to Annandale High School to help families from households earning less than $40,000 with their state and federal taxes.
TD Bank, formerly Commerce Bank, sends professionals to area schools to teach third- to 12th-graders financial literacy. The company also sends employees to help with summer reading programs in schools.
AOL tomorrow will launch a network-wide campaign to support the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Thanks and Giving program. The company will essentially give the hospital free advertising. For instance, holiday-themed AOL radio stations will run St. Jude public service announcements and ParentDish and AOL Health will blog about a St. Jude patient and his or her family.
Even Fannie Mae, which is now operating under federal conservatorship because of its mortgage losses, has continued its volunteer efforts, even while cutting back some of its monetary donations. Fannie Mae allows employees to take up to 10 hours a month in paid leave to volunteer in the community. Employees volunteer at foreclosure prevention events and go to local high schools to teach students financial literacy.
"As we go through conservatorship, we've gone through a tough economic period and a tough economic crisis, we've had to cut back on our charitable giving, but we remain committed to giving in areas that are related to our mission of affordable housing and helping the homeless," said Stacey D. Stewart, senior vice president at Fannie Mae.
Employees say they genuinely enjoy the volunteer work their companies allow them to do.
UPS lent Matt Lawrence, a supply chain manager, to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for eight months. Lawrence temporarily moved from Jersey City, N.J., to the District to come up with a better way to transport and distribute water, food and other commodities during emergency situations. He even delayed his first year of an MBA program to do it.
"It was a great experience just in terms of taking the experiences I have had over the years and being able to share them with FEMA," he said.
He also learned a lot, he said. "Just being able to understand how the government works and operates is extremely valuable."
