It’s official – the new AMG Community Outreach Program made its debut last week at San Antonio’s Habitat for Humanity. We painted walls and ceilings, put up siding, hammered, nailed, lifted, carried, risked getting hernias, laughed out loud and learned a lot about this amazing organization and its wonderful mission. Did you know that the average Habitat for Humanity home takes seven weeks to build – or that the very first Habitat home was built right here in San Antonio?
We are really proud of the work we did last week and even prouder of our team’s enthusiasm. We decided to establish this outreach program as a way to help the community and build a stronger collaborative culture at the agency. But we got so much more.
By stepping outside our eight-to-five box, we became more engaged with each other. We were challenged to use different skills and got the chance to see how working together really DOES make a difference. Some of us didn’t know how to use a hammer or a drill, but we tried anyway. We stepped outside our comfort zone, challenged each other and had a great time doing it.
With summer upon us, and sunshine beaming into cubicles everywhere, it is hard to keep our minds from wandering off to Cabo. That’s why it is so important to engage in fun and productive activities during this time of year, especially those centered around employee volunteer programs. These do-good activities unite the team, generate enthusiasm, and increase morale.
It’s like killing three birds with one beautifully benign stone. So if you want to a) keep employees motivated while b) providing a great bonding opportunity for your team, all in the process of c) impacting the community in a positive way, develop a community outreach or volunteer program.
We’ll keep you posted as we continue to reach out to the community this summer. Meanwhile, if you know of any awesome volunteer opportunities out there, please let us know!