Service is at the core of everything we do at Intouch Solutions. It’s reflected in our organizational structure: client services, strategic services, development services, creative services, and so on. With a mid-2011 enhancement to our benefits package, associates also have the opportunity to extend our commitment to service outside the office by volunteering in the community.
Each associate receives four hours of paid time off annually to be used for volunteer service during regular business hours. All it takes to participate is the desire to help others, a worthwhile cause, timing that doesn’t conflict with your work responsibilities, and approval by your manager.
The More You Give, the More You Get
Veteran volunteers know the personal benefits of community involvement. For the past year, Candy Sparks, planning director in the Chicago office, has spent two hours every Tuesday morning before work assisting patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center .
“Volunteering has had such a tremendous and positive influence on my life and has truly made me a better person. I get so much out of it — likely more than I feel that I contribute,” she shares.
You don’t have to make a long-term commitment to take advantage of the volunteering benefit. Candy put her four hours of paid time off from Intouch to good use by helping organize gifts collected for Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Adopt-A-Child for the Holidays Program. Her few hours of work helped ensure that more than 400 Chicago-area school children each received a coat, toy, and clothing.
KC Account Administrator Annie Brill and her family have been involved with the American Royal Association for many years. Annie had fun showing elementary school students where food comes from when she used her four hours of paid time off to lead them on a tour of the Royal’s livestock and agriculture exhibit.
Mobile Front-End Developer and avid boater August Patterson used his volunteer time to bring an event he organized to fruition. During the first-ever Wake the World KC event, he and other boat owners and volunteers hosted a group of boys from the Gillis children’s home for a fun day of wakeboarding on Smithville Lake. He even made the evening news!
Who Will You Help in 2012?
I’ve been volunteering for the Young Survival Coalition weekends and evenings for more than five years and was thrilled to have a half-day of paid time off one Monday morning to help organize auction items for our annual gala.
The time-off benefit is a great opportunity to put your passion into action, whether you’re already involved with a cause or you want to give volunteering a try. There are as many organizations where you can serve as there are Intouch associates:
• Your place of worship or child’s school
• Non-profit health agencies
• Community theaters, monuments and museums
• Youth organizations and sports teams
• Animal shelters and rescue groups
• Hospital or senior centers
Why not give volunteering a try? You have nothing to lose but four hours out of the office! And you just might have an experience that’s good for your heart and your health.