AFFINA News
AFFINA’s Peoria Operations Launch New Community Volunteer Program
November 03, 2009 - Peoria, Illinois
Peoria-based AFFINA has launched a new program to allow its salary-based employees to volunteer in the Peoria community during work hours.
October 20th marked the start of the AFFINA Community Volunteer Program. “This program is something that has been very important to me,” explains Donna J. Malone, President & CEO of AFFINA. “I believe as a company it is essential for us to support the communities where we live and work. As individuals, it’s important to take time to step back and reflect on what is truly important. I wanted a program that allowed our team members the time to reflect and enjoy the benefits of giving back. This program is innovative in that it allows our salaried employees to volunteer during their normal working hours.”
Malone’s idea began as a small bullet point on her wish list when she became President & CEO of AFFINA in 2007. “I always believed we could make this happen. It took a little while to figure out how to structure the program, research the opportunities and build a web-based system to fully automate the program, but it’s now fully launched here in Peoria, and we intend to expand it to locations where we have other employees across North America, including Waterloo, Iowa, El Paso, Texas, St. Louis, Missouri and Montreal, Quebec.”
The AFFINA program provides salaried employees in Peoria opportunities to volunteer up to eight hours each month during normal business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from a list of pre-arranged and coordinated volunteer opportunities. “We search for organizations that have a well-structured volunteer program,” said Wendy Basham, Vice President of Human Resources. “We offer opportunities that allow two or more employees to volunteer together to foster team building and allow employees to interact in different environments.” Each employee who volunteers receives a tee shirt, which can be worn during volunteer time. “The quote from Winston Churchill on the back of the shirt really captures our philosophy: ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’,” said Basham.
Initial reaction to the program is very positive. “I really loved volunteering,” said AFFINA employee Patty Baxter, who volunteered at SHARE Food last week. “With work, children and life, I haven’t been able to find time to volunteer, although I have wanted to contribute for the longest time. This program has given me a way to give back that actually fits into my life.” Lisa Austin, who volunteered with Baxter, added, “It felt good knowing we were doing something that would make a difference for someone else.”
Employee Josie Burns served lunch at the Peoria Rescue Mission. “I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that we are able to provide a service to this organization in the middle of our work day,” said Burns. “I am proud to be part of a company that gives back to the community.” Her co-volunteer Heather McCann was truly moved by the experience. “The people who came for lunch have faced challenges in their lives that most of us can’t even imagine. It was humbling and sincere,” said McCann. “It made my entire day to help for that short time, and it was honestly the best part of my day. I’m going back next week.”
Gary Nester, Volunteer Coordinator for The Center for Prevention of Abuse is very excited to work with AFFINA. “What is awesome and helpful at the same time? It’s an AFFINA employee that comes to the Center for Prevention of Abuse to volunteer their time,” Nester said. “With the funding cutbacks that the Center took, all of the things that volunteers do allow the Center employees to deal with helping our clients/residents. It also helps to make the environment more peaceful for the clients/residents and helps with their healing process.”
Bob Glenzinski, Executive Director of SHARE Food shared his sentiments as well. “Without the help of volunteers, SHARE could not meet the needs of so many people.”
AFFINA continues to add opportunities to the program. “Within 15 minutes of the online launch of the program, six employees had signed up for multiple opportunities,” said Basham. “Today, nearly every opportunity is filled. We will continue to add organizations and volunteer opportunities for our salaried employees. This is such a great win-win program; we want as many employees to take advantage of this as possible.”