Working and Serving: How our company came together
This past year, our California Closets Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky team was finally able to have a company-wide meeting in-person for the first time since 2020. It was so great for everyone from our Indianapolis, Louisville and Lexington, Cincinnati and Dayton, and Central Illinois markets to see familiar faces and to meet all of our new team members who onboarded when we weren’t able to all be together. To make this meeting special, we decided to not only have a business-related meeting but also take the time to give back and volunteer together.
Since we planned to meet at our Indianapolis warehouse, we decided to partner with our friends at Shepherd Community Center for an afternoon service event. The community center focuses on serving residents near the east side of Indianapolis, by providing them with food security, mentoring, education, and advocacy support. They do all of this with the goal of providing neighbors with the ability to reach higher stability levels, as well as personal goals. With a mission like this, we knew we wanted to help and be part of all the amazing things this organization does in our Indianapolis community.
With the number of participants we had, we wanted to make the largest impact possible, so we split up into multiple groups to allow us to assist Shepherd Community Center with multiple tasks. To identify what these tasks might be, we worked alongside our partners at the community center to see how we could best help. Some of the tasks we ended up helping with included:
- Picking up trash in the surrounding areas
- Cleaning the community center’s facilities
- Providing landscaping or labor assistance to residents in the area
When speaking with some of the residents, it was apparent that our team was right where we needed to be in those moments.
“I am beyond blessed to be a part of a company that is always giving back to our communities. Our team was so willing to get straight to work cleaning out an attic and landscaping an overgrown yard. Volunteering brought great joy to my heart, especially when we were all thanked by the residents and staff at the center.”
Nicole Townsend | Designer | California Closets Louisville
Our entire team knew in those moments that we were right where we needed to be on that day. There was no question about whether we made an impact, because we could see just how meaningful our contributions were to both the residents and the staff at Shepherd Community Center. It was amazing to see how simply having our team take an afternoon out of our daily operations to serve our Indianapolis community could make such a positive ripple that we’re proud of and hope to continue radiating. There is no telling what types of meaningful acts of service are in the future for us, and we can’t wait to see what’s next.
Want to learn more about Shepherd Community Center?
If you want to learn more about everything Shepherd Community Center does on the east side of Indianapolis, you can visit their website at www.shepherdcommunity.org.
