United Way: Employee volunteerism provides valuable contributions
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- Volunteers from Texas Instruments help paint a mural at the United Way Community Center at American Fork.
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- Texas Instruments volunteers are shown with their nearly finished mural at the United Way Community Center at American Fork.
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- Texas Instruments employees recently provided volunteer service at the United Way Community Center at American Fork.
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- A Texas Instruments volunteer is shown helping with a project at the United Way Community Center at American Fork.
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- Bill Hulterstrom, president and CEO of United Way of Utah County
Here at United Way of Utah County, we’ve been so excited to see an increasing trend of corporate volunteerism in our community. Local businesses and organizations have always been passionate, dedicated partners in strengthening our community.
Over the past years, though, it has been so inspiring to see many existing and new corporate partners become more engaged in volunteer efforts. United Way staff members and agency partners work hard to ensure that these volunteer opportunities are meaningful and contribute in lasting ways to make our programs better.
These volunteer experiences don’t just impact the beneficiaries receiving the service, however. They also benefit the employees who participate in these volunteer opportunities. Through these experiences, employees have the opportunity to get to know their coworkers in a different, better way. They have the opportunity to get to know our community more deeply, including through building relationships with folks they wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to meet.
And they even have the opportunity to get to know themselves a little better — to figure out what motivates them to do good and spark ideas of how to get involved on a longer-term basis. One of our goals as we engage community members in volunteerism is to not only help them accomplish great things but also to teach and inspire them to become better neighbors.
One great example of this type of volunteering happened recently as Texas Instruments employees gathered at our new United Way Community Center at American Fork. During their time at the center, these amazing volunteers put together new chairs and side tables for our family nook and lobby. They built shelves in our STEM classroom and put up whiteboards in several classrooms. They deep cleaned the building, adding mirrors and a changing table in the bathroom as they did so. They even organized the storage room, which we all know is a labor of love in itself.
In addition to these much-needed updates, the volunteers also helped paint a mural in the family nook, which shows an abstract image of a vibrant community. This mural doesn’t just represent the goals of the United Way Community Center; it provides a beautiful and peaceful reminder to all who visit that we each have a part to play in strengthening our community together. We are so grateful for these volunteers and the amazing service they have given.
As the volunteers worked hard to beautify the center and make the space feel more welcoming, United Way staff members noticed that they seemed to fall in love with the center. They could see how the volunteers were inspired by the work being done at the community center and how their efforts on that day were supporting all who would benefit from programs there.
The Texas Instruments volunteer project at the United Way Community Center at American Fork is a perfect example of what the center stands for: it is a place where people can come together to learn, to serve and to connect with each other. The volunteers not only helped give back to the community but were able to see how they contributed to something bigger than themselves and feel more connected to each other.
This is the big picture of volunteerism at United Way: service that gives back to the community and to the volunteers. Volunteering is such a powerful tool to create connections between us. It is a valuable opportunity to minimize loneliness and decrease isolation in our community, both for the recipients of the service and for the volunteers themselves. As the Texas Instruments volunteer group demonstrated so wonderfully, volunteerism builds relationships.
Over the next few months, I encourage each of us to look at our own capacity to contribute more as volunteers. Volunteering doesn’t always have to be formal; it can be as simple as offering to watch your neighbors’ children for a while so the parents can run errands or stopping by to visit an elderly friend who could use some company. But, if your schedule permits, I hope you look for ways to get involved on a consistent basis so you can see how your relationships grow and develop as you serve. Together, we can ensure that our community remains vibrant and supportive.
For more information about corporate volunteer opportunities or other ways to get involved, please visit unitedwayuc.org.
