This story was submitted as part of the #Pledge1Gives GivingTuesday campaign, which celebrates the many ways our member companies are having an impact around the world.

 

As the annual celebration of Giving Tuesday drew near this year – and with Zylo’s commitment to Pledge 1% – Zylo recently took the opportunity to donate time and effort to support local organizations and have plans through the month of December.

 

On a Thursday afternoon before Thanksgiving, more than seventy Zylo employees fanned out across Indianapolis to spend an afternoon volunteering.

 

This service program, called Zylo on the Streets, supports four types of worthy causes aligned to our employees’ passions and interests:

 

  • Hunger and poverty
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Diversity and inclusion

 

Through our partnership with the United Way of Central Indiana (UWCI) and individual outreach, our volunteers helped four local organizations focused on two of the core causes mentioned above.

Here are a few of the organizations we were fortunate to be able to support during our afternoon of service:

 

 

Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana (HVAF)

 

HVAF of Indiana is dedicated to empowering Hoosier veterans and their families to end homelessness and return to self-sufficiency. When we visited, HVAF was assisting more than fifty resident veterans by providing housing and other resources.

 

During our afternoon of service, Zylo volunteers helped spruce up the facility, assisted in set-up work, and helped prepare an annual pre-Thanksgiving dinner for residents and their families.

 

 

Second Helpings

 

Seconds Helpings is a hunger relief agency that focuses on transforming lives through the power of food. Every day, Second Helpings prepares and delivers more than 4,500 meals to a variety of organizations around Central Indiana.

 

 

Zylo volunteers helped prepare rescued food ingredients in Second Helping’s Hunger Relief Kitchen. With knives in hand (and beard nets for hirsute team members), the team chopped their way through hundreds of pounds of tomatoes and green beans destined to help fulfill meal prep needs.

 

 

Wheeler Mission

 

For more than 125 years, Wheeler Mission has provided critically needed shelter and services for homeless men, women, and children in Central Indiana.

 

Through generous donations, Wheeler Mission provides shelter residents with new and gently used clothing. Wheeler also operates a thrift store with proceeds funding life-changing programs such as homelessness prevention, addiction recovery, and employment assistance.

 

During their afternoon of service, a large team of Zylo volunteers assisted Wheeler by sorting and organizing bulk donations. All told, volunteers processed as many items as Wheeler’s full-time staff accomplish over two working days.

 

 

 

Village of Merici

 

Village of Merici is a non-profit living community for adults with disabilities. Currently housing more than twenty adults and one of the first living communities of its kind in Central Indiana, the Village aims to create a positive community and provide coaching services to these adults, many of whom have never lived alone before. The Village of Merici also serves non-resident adults with disabilities with coaching services and community events.

 

Zylo volunteers decked the Merici Halls with holiday decorations and spent some quality time visiting with residents.

 

This December 3, 2019, on Giving Tuesday, Zylo will host a Lunch and Learn session featuring three local non-profits which will present information on how Zylo employees can get involved by volunteering or making financial contributions.

 

We are also excited to announce a new Zylo tradition to impact the Indianapolis community during the holidays: the first annual Indy Tech Circle of Caring to benefit Wheeler Mission. On December 17, we’ll be set up on Monument Circle for a celebration of generosity in the spirit of the season and partnering up with Sigstr and KSM Consulting.  Learn more at wheelermission.org/circleofcaring/

One way Zylo empowers its employees to offer financial support to organizations like these is through our referral bonus donation program. We offer team members a new-hire referral bonus of a $250 donation to a non-profit of their choice from a list of 15 organizations – and this referral bonus is also available external referral. We believe this is an excellent way to tie our programs to our Pledge 1% commitment and help support worthy local causes.

 

If you’re considering helping in your community by making a financial contribution or volunteering, please know that you and your team can make an impact – no matter how large or small your organization.

 

Organizations like the United Way or individual causes can often help support or coordinate efforts of all sizes and means. We highly recommend finding team members within your organization who are passionate about particular causes and then helping facilitate that energy and motivation throughout the wider group.

 

If you want to learn how to get started making an impact in your community or joining the Pledge 1% movement, please contact Julie Barker (julie@zylo.com) for more information.