Professional Risk firmly believes everyone can affect a positive change in the world. This core value shapes has shaped the way we do business. Here is a recap of our 2018 efforts:
We’ve worked alongside our local Food Pantry for nearly a decade to bridge the lunch gap that is created when kids are out of school. This past summer was no exception; with the combined participation of the entire office, we donated approximately 500 meals to the Food Bank's satellite Food Pantry at St. Matthias Episcopal Church. These meals were then delivered to three local elementary schools for distribution.
In the latter half of the year, we focused on helping those who go without during the holiday season. In November we organized an in-house coat drive. Employees were encouraged to donate their lightly used coats of all sizes over a two-week period. In that time frame, we collected two large boxes full of coats that were then donated to the Puritan Cleaners Coats for Kids Drive. Following pickup, Puritan Cleaners cleans and repairs the coats before delivering them to the Salvation Army for distribution to local families.
In November we worked alongside, Homeward, a local charity that focuses on community outreach and betterment. Homeward hosted a Cold Weather Kit drive to help over 800 individuals who live without shelter in the winter months. These cold weather kits consisted of gloves, hats, socks, and hand-written notes of encouragement all packaged together in a Ziplock bag. We purchased the necessary supplies and then took an afternoon to assemble, write-out the notes, and bag the kits. All totaled, we put together more than 60 kits, that were then delivered to the Homeward office for distribution.
For our final charity efforts of the 2018 season, we donated our time-rather than money or goods-to make a difference. We organized four volunteer events for the end of the year; two with our local SPCA center and two with the nonprofit organization, FeedMore.
For the SPCA events, our team members were allowed to take some time out of the work day to visit the local shelter and walk the dogs housed there. This volunteer time and additional exercise not only improves the animals’ moral, but it also progresses their social skills which is vital in the adoption process.
Our final events for the year, were coordinated through FeedMore. We had two groups of volunteers visit the local food pantry in December. While there, we helped to sort and organize previous donations and then we repackaged goods for later distribution to those in need.
We understand no one person can do everything, but we believe everyone is capable of doing something. This year we’ve pushed ourselves to get more involved in our community with these events and we look forward to organizing similar efforts in the future.