CORPORATE VOLUNTEERISM IN ACTION

By Nell Anne Hunt

     Even before our new President challenged Americans to commit to community service, Brinks, Inc. was already leading the way.  Every year when over 100 managers from all over the country have an annual business meeting they make time to complete a service project in the host city where their conference is held.  Leaving the city a better place takes on real significance when their veritable army of dedicated volunteers shows up to make a difference.

     Luckily for Dallas the conference was held here this year.  The project chosen was the Jubilee neighborhood of Southeast Dallas.  Just ten years ago Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church decided to celebrate their 50^th anniversary by impacting the struggling 62-block Southeast Dallas neighborhood that had become known for high crime, prostitution and drugs.

    They optimistically named it Jubilee, and the name seemed to fit the vision the church had for it. Like The Little Engine That Could, the church members began to pull together and say, “I Think I Can.”

     A planning committee set out to raise funds, energize countless volunteer hours, adding passion and prayers into changing this neighborhood of 2,500 residents that was once considered hopeless into a place of safety and hope.  With the dedication of St. Michael parishioners and many other committed volunteers and community members this Jubilee Community has seen vast changes.

      The neighborhood elementary school that was once ranked the worst in the State of Texas is now a Recognized school.  The teenagers are graduating from high school, many of them the first in their family to do so.

       Today a beautiful green park with basketball courts, volleyball court and playground equipment offers a safe and wholesome place for children and families to gather.  Senior citizens eat lunch in the building and have planned activities. High schools students from private and public schools all over Dallas come to tutor the children after school and give holiday parties and just about anything that will enhance this amazing neighborhood revitalization project.

T. Boone Pickens wanted to continue the project’s success by donating six million dollars for a new Community Center and a Resource Center which will house Dallas Police Officers, a Dallas City Prosecutor, Code Enforcement  and Reentry Officer.  High schools students from private and public schools all over Dallas come to tutor the children after school and give holiday parties and just about anything that will enhance this amazing neighborhood revitalization project.

     When the managers of Brinks, Inc. came to Dallas they decided to connect in the unique way that Americans have always sought to make a difference.  They planned the event deploying teams with the necessary skills where they were needed and spent a whole day doing a complete “spring clean” of the neighborhood.  Alongside Jubilee residents, volunteers, Board members and staff, they cleaned all alleys and streets, painted the church exterior and refinished the interior cement floor while also packing and cataloguing the contents of several buildings for storage during the construction of the new buildings.  In addition to the hundreds of hours of labor and leadership, all materials and supplies were generously donated from the project budget along with the dollars remaining for the operations of Jubilee.

      When the Brinks, Inc. folks left, they left behind a very clean neighborhood.  More importantly, they exemplified what Booker T. Washington said, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”