Our success as a firm is not just about happy clients or motivated and fulfilled employees. We also believe that when we grow as a company, we have an opportunity to help our community. We strive to give back in tangible and meaningful ways. As we approach Thanksgiving, the giving season, and the holidays, we wanted to highlight a few of the ways that we support nonprofit, religious, and community organizations.
Creating Space Outside of Work for Community Involvement
Corporate and social responsibility isn’t just about donations. According to Forbes, we need to put into practice the values of our company, and that means providing our employees with a work/life balance that enables them to volunteer in places where they are passionate. As we were working on our new website, something stuck out to us: outside of work, our employees volunteer for a variety of nonprofits and community organizations. Our Client Relationship Liaison Holly Bergen regularly volunteers with her church community and enjoys chairing or co-chairing special events committees for various organizations that her daughter belongs to. Jenna Brown, our Client Service and Operations Specialist, doesn’t just love riding her horse Bria, but also finds time to volunteer at horse shows and spread her equestrian enthusiasm. Our President Pete Marshall enjoys coaching his son’s basketball team each year. We know that these activities don’t just make our employees happier, they make our communities better.
Strengthening Our Team, Strengthening Our Community
We’ve also created space within our work environment to volunteer. Every fall, we combine a day outside of the office team building with a day volunteering at First Fruits Farm. Rick and Carol Bernstein founded the farm in 1998 with the idea of providing food for needy families in the area near their Baltimore County farm. Last fall, we spent a morning picking cabbages and this year we bagged potatoes with the Marshall Financial Group team (including our junior executives, also known as the Marshall children, who were taking a day off of virtual school to help out!). Although we had fun during our time on the farm, what’s more is the impact our efforts have on supporting the mission of the farm. Since 2004, First Fruits Farm has donated over 16.5 million pounds of fruits and vegetables to share with local food banks, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and other food providers.
Supporting Those Who Support Others
One of the nonprofit organizations that we support is There Goes My Hero. The founder, Erik Sauer, is a long-time friend and business associate of Pete and Lindy Marshall. After his own experience with leukemia and a bone marrow transplant, Erik wanted to help other patients in need. While he was undergoing treatment, neighbors dropped off food and helped with childcare. Erik also received a life-saving bone marrow donation from a teenager in Germany when he couldn’t find a match in his family. Today, the Hero Fund helps blood cancer patients and their families with meals, transportation, parking, and co-pays during treatment. There Goes My Hero registers bone marrow donors, and to date has registered over 20,000 potential life-savers and facilitated 42 life-saving transplants.
We are so proud to have contributed in a small way to the huge accomplishments of these organizations. We hope that as we grow, we are able to continue to nurture and support local organizations, volunteer as a team, and expand our corporate giving initiatives.