September 30, 2004

Aerosmith's Joey Kramer and wife April join United Way Community Care Day

BOSTON – When more than 1,300 corporate workers from 50 Boston-area companies arrived ready for “work” on Thursday, September 30, they crossed the thresholds of programs offering child care, after-school activities, job training and affordable housing instead of walking through the doors of their companies. The employees participated in United Way of Massachusetts Bay’s (UWMB) Community Care Day, an annual effort which this year has been redesigned to educate volunteers about issues facing the community, foster long-term volunteer engagement and match companies with volunteer projects in issue areas they are most interested in.

The Kramers spoke to volunteers from RCG LLC about the importance of providing transitional housing to individuals undergoing addiction treatment. Over 20 RCG volunteers built an outside structure that will serve as a workout area at New Victories , which serves as home to 24 men who are undergoing addiction treatment as they await permanent housing. New Victories, a program of Victory Programs, Inc., opened in 1993 as a response to lessen extensive waiting lists for residential alcohol and addition treatment for men.

UWMB launched its Community Care Day 12 years ago as an opportunity for corporate volunteers to perform a day of community service. Since then, many other organizations have initiated volunteer days.

The redesign of UWMB’s effort recognizes that companies are becoming increasingly strategic about their corporate giving and their corporate volunteer efforts. They are also increasingly interested in investing their dollars and employees’ time in causes that are aligned with their philanthropic/business goals.

“Companies have been very receptive to our efforts to create positive, social change through volunteerism, mentoring and corporate citizenship opportunities,” said Milton J. Little Jr., president and chief executive officer at United Way of Massachusetts Bay. “On September 30, this vision will come to life in dozens of neighborhoods in greater Boston. We hope to engage corporate employees in ongoing volunteer commitments that will have a measurable impact in the community, particularly in our four key investment areas of children, youth, employment and housing.”

For example:

• 250 volunteers from 12 companies like Thomson Learning, Sovereign Bank and Federal Reserve Bank learned about the importance of early literacy, participating in projects at 13 agencies providing services to young children.
• Over 350 volunteers from 14 companies like State Street, Liberty Mutual, Allied Domecq and the Federal Reserve Bank learned about the importance of building strong adult-youth relationships, participating in projects at 14 agencies that work with youth.
• Over 240 volunteers from 12 companies like Spaulding & Slye Colliers, TIAA Cref and Boston Consulting Group volunteered at agency, home or neighborhood transformation projects and learned about the important connection between affordable housing and other issues such as homelessness and elder care.
• Over 100 volunteers from five companies like Westin Copley, IKON Office Solutions and New England Financial learned about issues of sustainable employment and practiced interviewing, resume writing, and other job skills with clients in five employment programs.
• Over 300 volunteers from 13 companies learned about the importance of providing for basic needs while participating at projects at nine organizations such as Greater Boston Food Bank, Community Servings and Cradles to Crayons.

“RCG is a real estate investment, development and management firm that operates primarily in the Greater Boston Metropolitan area,” said RCG Principal Henri-Claude Bailly . “Our philosophy is to apply exceptional design, environmental awareness and community responsiveness to all of our projects. We consider participating in Community Care Day a benefit to our company as well as to Victory Programs and we thank them for the work they do.”

Other Community Care Day projects included:

• Volunteers from State Street Corporation lent their bilingual skills to Mujeres Unidas en Accion’s Family Literacy Program. According to a study done by First Books, children from middle-class families are read to an average of 1,000 to 1,700 hours before starting kindergarten, whereas children from lower-income families are read to a startling 25 hours during this same time period. State Street volunteers brought age-appropriate favorite books in Spanish and/or English and hosted a workshop in English and Spanish that encouraged parents – many of them single mothers -- to read to their children.
• Volunteers from Sapphire Technologies worked with girls served by Cambridge Family and Children’s Service to build an outdoor space of inspiration to honor the memory of a staff member who suddenly passed away in March of 2004. The passing of Diann Ugi impacted both current residents and former residents of the organization’s Pre-Independent Living Program in Malden, and the girls are building the reflection area to help keep Diann’s memory alive.
• Volunteers from Federal Reserve Bank worked with participants in the YMCA of Greater Boston’s Training Inc. program. Volunteers talked with the trainees about their career paths and met graduates who are in the job search process. Volunteers also practiced interview questions with these graduates, provide dthem with feedback on their resumes and helped them generate fresh ideas for their job searches.

Media inquires should contact:
Jeff Bellows
Phone: 617-624-8250
Fax: 617-624-9114
E-mail: jbellows@uwmb.org