Nearly 100 employee volunteers supported 12 nonprofit organizations across eight regions throughout May

This May, nearly 100 Pennrose employees from offices across the country came together to serve their neighbors through the Pennrose Foundation Month of Service, giving more than 1,100 hours of volunteer time to 12 nonprofit organizations doing vital work in their communities. Service activities took place in Philadelphia, the Lehigh Valley, Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Upstate New York, and Colorado.

“Our employees enable Pennrose to live its mission of transforming communities and the Month of Service put that on full display,” said Timothy I. Henkel, CEO of Pennrose. “High-quality housing is where our work begins, but it is the people, our employees and our partners, who create lasting change.”

Volunteer activities spanned food security, urban agriculture, youth and family services, and community revitalization. Highlights from the month included:

•       Philadelphia: Across five service projects, volunteers prepared more than 1,000 sandwiches with Caring for Friends, readied Sanctuary Farm for summer planting, assembled care packages for children at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Behavioral Health and Crisis Center, and sorted donations for Project HOME’s Hub of Hope and HOMEspun Boutique.

•       Lehigh Valley: Volunteers organized donations in the food pantry at New Bethany.

•       Boston: Volunteers assembled and served more than 350 lunches for guests at Rosie’s Place.

•       Baltimore: Volunteers served more than 290 meals in the dining room at the Franciscan Center of Baltimore, packed additional meals to go, and helped organize the center’s free pantry and grocery store.

•       Cincinnati: Volunteers built flower boxes at Easterseals Redwood to support the organization’s programming for individuals with special needs.

•       Atlanta: Volunteers harvested vegetables, mulched, and cleared beds for planting at The Farm at Good Samaritan Health Center, which provides fresh produce in an area of Atlanta officially recognized as a food desert.

•       Upstate New York: Volunteers installed fencing, planted flowers, and completed deck work at Family of Woodstock’s Family House.

•       Colorado: Volunteers helped set up new classrooms for the OUR Center’s Aspen Center for Child Development at Ascent at Hover Crossing in Longmont, Colorado. Beginning this fall, the center will offer childcare for toddlers and preschool-aged children, with priority enrollment for Ascent at Hover Crossing residents.

Many of the participating organizations are longtime Pennrose Foundation grant partners, and the Month of Service offered employees a new way to support their work in person.

“From food pantries to urban farms to children’s hospitals, these organizations meet real needs in their communities every single day,” said Shannon Mowery, Executive Director of the Pennrose Foundation. “The Month of Service was a chance to stand alongside them and see that impact up close. We are grateful to every volunteer and partner organization that made this month so meaningful.”

In addition to organized service projects, employees were encouraged to give back to their communities in the ways that suited them best through Pennrose’s new Volunteer Time Off (VTO) policy. Beginning this year, all benefits-eligible Pennrose employees receive up to eight hours of paid Volunteer Time Off in addition to regular paid time off.