The personal and professional benefits of giving time and money back to your community are numerous. Team members often discover leadership skills about themselves, become closer with their fellow team members, and feel empowered by contributing to causes close to their heart. Ultimately, volunteering is a healthy reminder that so long as you continue to give of yourself, you’ll get what you need when you need it most.
For this article, we sat down with some of the charitable catalysts within Mazzella Companies who are helping to convert time and money into the needs of the people in their local communities.
- What is the importance of giving back to local communities?
- What is the best way to get team members involved?
- What charitable organizations does Mazzella Companies work with?
- What organizations would you like Mazzella Companies to work with in the future?
- How can team members get involved?
What is the importance of giving back to local communities?
In a unique position as a privately owned company, Heather Rue, Accounting Lead for Sheffield Metals International in Sheffield, Ohio, shares, “I think it shows that not only do we care about our team members, but we care about everybody – our customers, vendors, people who are a part of our organization – that we want to give back to the community.”
Silvia Balderrama, Production Control and Customs Manager for New Tech Machinery in Hermosillo, Senora, Mexico shared that she thinks it’s important because, “we are here not just to provide jobs, but also to be a part of the community and help that community.”
Jenny Gallegos, Office Manager at New Tech Machinery in Aurora, Colorado said that it’s good to let people know that they truly care not just for you as a team member, but the community, and that matters because bigger companies can do a lot more than an individual.
Matt English, Specialty Ropes Sales Associate out of Cleveland, Ohio, added to that sentiment sharing, “We’re all in a position where we work for a fantastic company that provides these opportunities for us to help others”, adding, “I think it naturally feels great any time you can help somebody in need.”
What is the best way to get team members involved?
In the year 2022 alone, Mazzella Companies donated 6,523 pounds of food items, and with a dollar-for-pound match with stand-alone monetary contributions, they ended up contributing $11,475 to local charitable organizations throughout the country. New Tech Machinery’s office in Aurora, Colorado was at the top of the pack making up 18% of total contributions.
When Jenny was asked how they got so many team members involved she shared that this was her first year working with their new Vice President, and after getting to know his fun side asked, “if we hit a certain goal, would you dress up as an elf?” which he wholeheartedly agreed to. Jenny concluded, “the day after we told everyone, we started getting cans and boxes” attributing this year’s turnout to keeping it fun and playful.
When asking other team members, the consensus was that word-of-mouth communication was the most effective way to get people involved with Matt noting, “if everyone pitches in on bringing up the conversation with others, it helps not only get the word out directly, but it may indirectly be overheard.” Heather noted, “Getting face to face with someone, that’s the kind of person I am. Emails get lost in the shuffle a lot”, and Silvia added, “first of all, we try to be in touch with the people – their families too.”
What charitable organizations does Mazzella Companies work with?
Mazzella Companies offers team members in their Cleveland location to participate in donating blood to the American Red Cross each quarter without ever having to leave the building. Matt says, “We have the drive four times a year and our numbers have always been fantastic. Some of our blood donors are known for their donation streak.”
Matt shares that the American Red Cross is dear to his heart saying, “The amount of good that they do with the blood donations is incredible. The results have been fantastic.” Matt also shared details about the app the American Red Cross has, which helps participants schedule appointments, ask vital questions in advance of appointments, and even allows participants to track their blood journey, alerting you when your blood has made its way to the patient in need.
Getting involved in the blood drive doesn’t have to be donating though, as Matt shared the reason he got involved in helping with the quarterly blood drive, “ I tried to donate blood once found out I couldn’t. I figured I could at least contribute by helping to get participants and setting up.”
If you’re a current team member looking to donate or help set up, reach out to Matt. If 40-50 donors donated at one blood drive four times a year, over 500 lives could potentially be saved – that’s two lives each time you donate!
Another quarterly activity for Mazzella Companies team members in Cleveland is preparing lunch for the homeless at the West Side Catholic Center, located in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland. Heather says that because she’s able to volunteer with Mazzella Companies, she’s been volunteering regularly with the organization since she started – 12 years ago.
The Center itself serves breakfast and lunch to over 150 people a day, operating six days a week, providing respite day shelter and a distribution hub for those in the area in need of:
- Clothing
- Culinary Program with ServSafe Certification
- Employment Clinics
- Entitlements
- Food
- Healthcare Services
- Household Items
- Housing Search Assistance
- Identification Recovery
- Interview Preparation
- Job Placement
- Legal Assistance
- Mailboxes
- Phones
- Resume Building
- Showers and Hygiene Care
- Substance Abuse Health Services
- Workforce Skill Development
The largest hunger relief organization in Northeast Ohio having served nearly 350,000 people throughout six counties, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank serves communities throughout both food distribution and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) outreach efforts.
In 2022, Mazzella Companies’ headquartered location in Cleveland was able to help feed local families and children by donating 329 pounds of food and a total of $1,879 in financial contributions, which translates into $16,911 of nutritious food due to strong relationships the Greater Cleveland Food Bank has with federal nutrition programs, allowing the food bank to stretch their dollars.
“As soon as the food drive came along, I picked the charity we were going to work with, figured out where to plant the boxes, and what was going to create the most hype”, says Jenny, who chose to work with a Denver-based, but nationally recognized for their strong outreach, charity called Struggle of Love.
Jenny noted she really wanted to work with a charity that focused on children, as they’re often the ones left out. This made Struggle of Love the perfect local organization to work with, as they are always working on creating opportunities for underprivileged youth and/or families to access year-round services and programs, even those who may not qualify for other community-based assistance programs
In Hermosillo, Senora, Mexico, the team members are a part of an association called INDEX, which provides many services to team members, including sporting events, one of which is a golf tournament that all the proceeds from go towards scholarships for children of team members. Silvia said that these scholarships are important, but they also go the extra mile adding, “We know the schools, we know they don’t have a lot of resources, so we will send them toys and a pinata with candies so they can have Posada in December. We’ve been doing that for five years now.”
Individual Team Members
Many of Mazzella Companies locations have found local organizations they enjoy working with, feeling their community is being served by them, while Silvia says, “there are a lot of foundations, but they already have their plan, and the people they are going to help, and maybe sometimes they forget the little places or the little people. That’s where we like to be. Helping others in the moment who don’t have any other help.”
Silvia went on to share, “Since New Tech started here in Mexico, they’ve always taken care of all the people. So, if we hear that somebody’s family needs help, or a local school needs help, we ask ‘how can we help?’”. Silvia went on to share that two years ago one of the team members at the Hermosillo location lost all their clothes and everything in their house, so everybody was trying to help them, adding, “I am human, and friendship is knowing what’s going on with the other person.”
What organizations would you like Mazzella Companies to work with in the future?
Across the board, each team member shared their desire to work with organizations that help children, with Matt specifically wanting to work with a Northeast Ohio charity called the Ronald McDonald House saying, “I recently reached out to one of their representatives and they said the best way to start, ground level, is with the soda can pull tab collection, so I have posters and little donation boxes on the way.”
With their pull tab collection program, the Ronald McDonald House works with local recyclers to turn tabs into money for their Family Fund, which helps support the families that stay at their facilities in Cleveland and Akron, providing comfort, support, and resources to families with sick children while they are in the hospital. In 2021 they collected more than 22,550 pounds of tabs, generating about $10,000 in revenue!
How can team members get involved?
“Seeing the faces of the people you’re helping, the kids you’re helping”, is what Jenny looks forward to the most when they deliver the donations and says that she really hopes to see donations for 2023 up, wondering already how to get more team members and Mazzella Companies’ locations involved.
Matt shared that that in Cleveland, every team member is welcome to join in, whether it’s donations or time spent saying, “Anybody that wants to get involved is always more than welcome. I work closely with the marketing team to put out emails put up fliers to help announce events.”
Heather shared that she sees a bigger picture, with not only team members getting involved, but other local businesses making the move to helping out their local communities as well saying, “Hearing the name Mazzella, we hope that people ask themselves ‘how can I get involved with what they’re doing?’”
Bringing it Home
While the team members and executive leadership at Mazzella Companies are working together to benefit the community at large, they also insist on showing appreciation for the people who keep things moving. Whether it’s helping fellow team members work through a catastrophe, fun outings, company-sponsored athletics for team members to enjoy together, or simply hosting lunch for everyone – Mazzella Companies knows building communities starts from within.
Additional National Partner Organizations
