Posts Tagged ‘community’

Community spotlight: Food LifeLine volunteer event

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

 

We had an  absolute blast working with Food LifeLine!!

We participated in the “grocery rescue” group where volunteers are tasked with sorting and verifying expiration dates on food donated from local grocery stores. Stores like Albertson’s, QFC and Whole Foods tag their dairy, produce, bakery and prepared foods with “sell by” dates that don’t always match up with actual expiration dates. But, beyond that sell by date, stores will pull these items from their shelves and actually throw them out with the trash.

Kathy and Kat were in charge of dairy.

Food LifeLine “rescues” these food items for distribution to food banks and shelters throughout Western WA. It’s an amazing program that services over 686,000 people and we were happy to lend a hand.

Parker’s volunteers repacked 7,025 lbs. of grocery rescue in 4 hours providing 5,404 meals!

To put that in perspective, our coordinator said that a typical team of 9-10 processes 2000-3000 lbs. in 4 hours! We were a grocery rescuing machine!

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities with Food LifeLine, please visit http://foodlifeline.org/help/volunteer/Volunteer.html to learn more about ways you can help!

December Volunteer event @ Food LifeLine

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

One of the best things about working for a company like Parker is the unique benefits we’re offered, like our Quarterly Community Service Benefit. This provides us with 8 hours of paid time each quarter to volunteer with the organizations of our choice.

We enjoyed our group volunteer event last quarter so much that we decided to continue the tradition this December – but double the number of Parker volunteers to 10!

Next Tuesday, December 7th will find us partnering with The Global Citizen Project to help out at Food LifeLine of Western Washington. We’re really excited! Food Lifeline is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in Western Washington. They make every penny count, and 94% of the food they receive from local, state and national contributors is donated.

Look for a wrap-up and pictures next week!

Community spotlight: Volunteer wrap-up

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Recently the Parker team had an opportunity to spend some time volunteering in the Treehouse Wearhouse helping sort and tag items.

For a child placed in foster care, leaving home means losing everything – clothing, toys, family photos – and starting over from scratch. For foster parents, it means trying to outfit a growing child with the $300 per year the state provides for clothing (that’s less than half of what an average family spends). The Treehouse Wearhouse is a free store that fills this chronic gap. Kids can shop several times a year for new and like-new clothing, shoes, school supplies, books, toys, bikes and other essentials that help them feel good and fit in.

We had an absolute blast helping the Wearhouse team reorganize for the fall shopping season and it really brought out the organization freaks in all of us! Teri and Rosanne in particular had a vision for the shirt racks and quickly turned that into reality!

We also had the fun task of sorting out all of the donated Halloween costumes! Boy, girl, teen boy, teen girl, infant, toddler, unisex – fun and organized!

Thanks to Treehouse for having us in and we look forward to the next time!

Treehouse back-to-school drive wrap up

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

I have some exciting news…

Parker beat our goal of contributing 800 items!! And I only had to buy 20 boxes of crayons to push us over the mark.  ;-)

This is HUGE. Not only were we able to help them out with a sorely needed ASAP backpack delivery but ALL of our donations (save the crayons) this year were new or like-new clothing. While school supplies are definitely welcome, Treehouse’s true mission is to get cool clothes on the backs of kids so that when they start school they feel like they fit in just a little better, no matter how their circumstances differ from those of their peers. We were also able to snag a donation nd of 8 prom dresses and matching shoes that will be in high demand this coming spring!

Thanks to everyone, this was truly an All Parker effort from individual clothing and cash donations to a hugely successful silent auction prior to our move. I think this post on Treehouse’s Facebook page really sums up the direct impact Parker has had on their drive this year… “It looks like every child coming to the Wearhouse this Back-to-School season is going to get a backpack. Thank you everyone for your amazing response to the needs in the Wearhouse.”

 We look forward to volunteering in the “Wearhouse” this Friday and look forward to more pics from on-site!

Treehouse drop offs!

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Yesterday Treehouse posted this picture on their Facebook page of their dwindling stock of backpacks.

The Parker team swung into action and hit up Old Navy to stock up on backpacks (on sale for $7 each!) to add to the donations we’ve already collected. We were able to drop everything off today and plan on making a second shopping trip this Thursday to add more items! Treehouse was ecstatic to see our backpacks and were going to get them out on the floor for kids ASAP.

backpacks!

Back to school clothes!

Giving always feels great but when you have the opportunity to see the immediate impact you can have, it’s truly humbling. Thanks to Treehouse for the amazing work you continue to do for children in foster care and thanks to the Parker staff for making this drive a success!

Back to school with Parker and Treehouse!

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Since 1988, Treehouse has filled the gaps for kids in foster care, providing services that no other agency addresses: money for extra-curricular activities and summer camp, professional educational support services, resources to fully participate in the everyday activities of growing up, clothing and supplies to help them fit in at school.

That’s why Parker Staffing is once again hosting a Back-to-School donation drive! Our donation drive will help Treehouse give foster kids new clothes, backpacks, school supplies, tutoring, school pictures, field trips and more as they return to school this fall. 

Last year we collected over 800 items and want to beat that goal this year!

Just a fraction of last year's haul!

Here’s how to help:

  • Purchase new items for Treehouse kids (girls and boys, ages 5-17) 
    • New Outfit from Head-to-Toe 
    • Jeans
    • Long or Short Sleeved Shirt
    • Hooded Sweatshirt
    • Warm Coat
    • Socks & Underwear
    • Shoes
    • Backpack or Messenger Bags
    • School supplies
  • Call Parker to pick-up your donations! We are coordinating donation pick-ups. Let us know the best time for you and we’ll be by! Our last available pick-up day is Friday, August 20th.
  • You’re done! :-)

Can’t get to the store? You can still help by shopping the Treehouse donation catalog at www.treehouseforkids.org/donate. Some of the items available for purchase include:

  • School Pictures
  • Sports Fees
  • School Band
  • One Year of Haircuts
  • School Field Trips
  • Wilderness Camp
  • Tutoring

If you’d like to participate, please reach out to Alex Kralicek @ alexk@parkerservices.com and we’ll coordinate a pick up.

Thanks!