Employee teams form to respond to community needs

We've all heard the phrase "It takes a village" in relationship to rearing a child. That concept can be applied to how a community embraces a wide spectrum of needs among its members. In the spirit of the University of Colorado Denver's "Giving Back Campaign," a number of teams have formed to answer the call throughout the metro area.

This campaign offers the opportunity for employees to request up to four hours of their regularly scheduled work time to volunteer with a community service effort of their choice. Some are seeing this as an opportunity to combine community service and team building.
A prime example is the plan by a team from UC Denver's human resources department to provide volunteer hours at Warren Village, which helps motivated, low-income, single parents move from public assistance to self-sufficiency through subsidized housing, on-site childcare, counseling, and education or job training. The Warren Village property often is in need of repair, maintenance or yard work. So the HR team will be spending time helping with that work.

While our greater community generously responds to appeals during the holiday season, we all know that needs persist throughout the year.

Among the agencies answering the call in our community is Food Bank of the Rockies. It provides food supplies to more than 1,000 hunger-relief programs across northern Colorado and Wyoming. In January, a group from UC Denver's integrated university communications will help unpack bulk cartons and load food boxes along an assembly line in preparation for distribution.

Another team from the Anschutz Medical Campus library checked out a need they closely identify with — offering their volunteer hours to help colleagues at Aurora Public libraries.
All UC Denver faculty and staff are encouraged to connect with a community need that is meaningful for them. After you make your selection for volunteering, remember to log in your project so your effort will be recorded as part of the overall Giving Back Campaign.