On September 30, VML held a company-wide day of service called Foundation Day. Local VML employees spent their Day of Caring with community organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, and the Community Healing Center. Volunteer projects can be difficult to execute, but with a group of more than 100 creative problem-solvers with good senses of humor, Kalamazoo VML employees proved that no challenge was too big. What can’t be done alone can be achieved together. 

Last week, VML participated in several volunteer activities;

• Cleaned, landscaped, and beautified two foreclosed homes in the Edison neighborhood to prepare them for resale.
• Took to the streets of downtown Kalamazoo, picking up trash and debris, ensuring our streets are clean and beautiful.
• Painted a mural with inspirational quotes in the Big Brothers Big Sisters’ board room.
• Landscaped and cleaned up two addiction treatment centers that do so much for the community.
• Packaged food at a local pantry and then served lunch to people at a daytime shelter.

But VML’s Day of Caring wasn’t just about what they did. It was just as much about how they did it. When the number of sandwiches was over-estimated for Foundation Day lunch, VMLers in the downtown clean up crew brought them to the park near Ministry with Community and offered them to the homeless. 

Another example of going further was from the group at the Community Healing Center and KNHS. They needed more lawn tools to complete the job than what was there, but that didn’t stop the VML volunteers. They stepped up to the plate and went back home for their own tools so the group could finish the project. These are just a couple of examples of how thinking quickly, staying positive, and seeing the bigger picture can really enhance the group volunteer experience. 

This year’s VML Foundation Day tagline was “Go as far as you can, and then go further.” Volunteers at VML did just that for their Day of Caring. 

Search for the #WeAreVML tag on Instagram and Twitter to see how far the 2,000 VMLers from 25 different offices went on the VML Foundation Day.

VML’s community outreach is led by the VML Foundation, an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is employee- and agency-funded. Since 2005, the VML Foundation has granted more than $1.2 million in cumulative unrestricted grants in the communities where VML operates. Through financial grants, matching gift contributions and Community Contributor of the Month recipients, the VML Foundation has supported hundreds of charitable organizations and worthy causes. 

Learn more about how VML gives back.