Thursday January 23, 2020

Al. Neyer Celebrates 2020 MLK Service Day

Team Participates in First Annual Company-Wide Day of Service

“Life’s most persistent and earnest question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, and in our commitment to taking ownership in the communities in which we live, work, and play, Al. Neyer held a company-wide day of service on Monday, January 20th. The crew participated in various planned activities together, whether in the office or at an offsite nonprofit organization.

We are proud to kick off this annual initiative. With our employee-owners and our families donating their time throughout the day to serve others and make a lasting impact in the community, we hope to encourage our clients, partners, subcontractors, and friends to do so as well. None of this would have been possible without the time and donations of our entire team. We’re already looking forward to next year!

The Day By The Numbers

• 11 organizations that our offices directly helped
• 107 employee-owners volunteered
• All 4 Al. Neyer markets participated
• 54 family members joined
• 992 total volunteer hours logged

A Summary of Involvement

Crayons to Computers (Cincinnati)
With a group of 25 volunteers, we assembled 400 school supply kits and filled out 400 Encouragement Cards for Crayons to Computers, a nonprofit that supports underprivileged children in the Tri-State Area. The school supply kits are then distributed amongst 450+ qualifying preschool-grade 12 schools.

Churches Active in Northside (Cincinnati)
We kicked the morning off with 20 volunteers set up in the office to assemble 1,000 bags of laundry detergent for Churches Active in Northside (CAIN). The organization then puts these bags of laundry detergent in their pantry for the needy. Items like laundry detergent are important because household essentials such as cleaning supplies and personal care items are only put in the CAIN pantry when they receive donations from the public. The food for their pantry comes from the local food bank and other grocery chains such as Kroger, Walmart and Meijer. Our team was happy to supply these important personal care items to others in need.

St. Francis Seraph Ministries (Cincinnati)
Another 20 of our volunteers in Cincinnati set up in our office in the morning to assemble almost 400 bagged lunches. Each lunch included a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, fruit juice, a healthy snack, a sweet snack, salty snack and a fruit cup. Later that afternoon, two volunteers loaded and delivered the bagged lunches to St. Francis Seraph Ministries to be distributed to those in need.

CincySmiles Foundation (Cincinnati)
Approximately 50 volunteers formed a massive assembly line at Al. Neyer HQ that morning, packaging nearly 15,000 dental care packages! The kits included toothpastes, toothbrushes, and other essential care items for those less fortunate. We then had five volunteers load and deliver all the dental care packages to CincySmiles’ location on the West Side.

Freestore Foodbank (Cincinnati)
Forty volunteers head to Freestore Foodbank in the afternoon, where they assembled 661 Senior boxes for local senior citizens in need. The boxes included two boxes of cereal, two bottles of apple juice, a box of milk, a package of dry milk, a can of tuna, two boxes of spaghetti, a can of chili, four cans of green beans, two cans of applesauce, two cans of corn, two cans of vegetarian beans, and two cans of yams. These boxes help seniors citizens living in 20 counties across the region.

Empower Youth (Cincinnati)
Another 20 of our Cincinnati-based volunteers went to Empower Youth in Clermont County, where they too assembled “Weekend Food Packs” for underprivileged children in Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Warren County. The packs include food such as ravioli, a can of soup, a milk box, a juice box, a pack of oatmeal, a fruit snack, a granola bar and a pack of peanut butter crackers. The Weekend Food Packs are distributed to approximately 800 children weekly, to help ensure they have enough food over the weekend.

Fernbank Park, Great Parks of Hamilton County (Cincinnati)
The below-freezing temperatures didn’t stop 28 of our volunteers from heading out to Fernbank Park, a Hamilton County Park along the Ohio River, where they picked up trash and other debris like sticks to help keep our parks beautiful for everyone to enjoy. Our volunteers picked up 26 bags of trash, six bags of trash, two tires, a chair, and a construction barrel.

Lighthouse Youth Services, Mecum House and Sheakley Center (Cincinnati)
Meanwhile, nine Cincinnati-based volunteers visited Mecum House for Lighthouse Youth Services, a United Way Organization, and spent time with ages 10-17, and five volunteers went to the Sheakley Center for Youth to spend time with 18-24 year olds. There, they helped the youth create vision boards, talk about their problems, and just spend time with them.

The Education Partnership (Pittsburgh)
Our Pittsburgh-based employee-owners and their families gathered school supplies on their own and brought everything to the office on Jan. 20th to organize and sort the items together. The team then delivered the supplies directly to The Education Partnership for a tour of the facility. Donated supplies are distributed through the organization’s Teacher Resource Center. Teachers at 139 partner schools make appointments to come to the resource center several times a year to pick up necessary supplies for their classrooms. The Education Partnership serves public, private, charter, and parochial schools, grades PreK-12, where all of the schools have at least 70% of their student body qualify for the National School Lunch Program for free or reduced-price lunch.

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (Nashville)
Our Nashville-based employee-owners and their families came together at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt offices on Jan. 20th to help draw/create, package up, and send thank you cards and gifts to the community and the hospital’s donors. The organization has an annual holiday card project where patients and their siblings design cards that are placed around the community to sell, and also produces thank-you cards to follow. The team also helped organize items that MCJCHV outreach staff distribute throughout the year. The family-friendly activities were rewarding for our volunteers of all ages, offering even our littlest helpers an experience in giving back.

Habitat for Humanity Durham County (Raleigh)
Our MLK Day of Service continued with our small but mighty team in the Triangle, Justin Parker and Bob Brooks, volunteering at Habitat for Humanity Durham County. They joined other community members in building a house in East Durham. The woman who will occupy the home, Tara, was part of the work crew. She has two sons who are 18 and 16, and she told the team that when they move into the house this summer, it will be the first time her sons have lived in a house.

We Take Ownership

Giving back to the communities that we work in is a high priority for Al. Neyer employee-owners, and ties in tightly to our Core Values. We allow each employee to support their own volunteer initiatives by matching up to four hours of volunteer service with another four hours of Paid Time Off throughout the year. In addition, Al. Neyer has a quarterly drawing for a $250 donation to an employee-owner’s nonprofit of choice. Whether it’s revitalizing urban neighborhoods or supporting communities to make changes that benefit future generations, our employee-owners commit their talent, time, and fiscal donations to many causes.

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