Posted on November - 05 - 2010
Memphis corporate volunteers aare recognized for giving more than just money
Charlotte Quarles (from left), Marilyn Hughes and Elise Barassi of Hilton Worldview celebrate their company’s two awards for Outstanding Project Award and Neighbor of the Year at the annual Corporate Neighbor Awards event by Volunteer Mid-South.
By day, Sharon Wilson answers phones and sets up meetings for directors at FedEx Services Inc.
In her off time, she delivers meals to the elderly for the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association, works on Habitat for Humanity houses, and builds decks, pressure washes, paints and tiles for “all those little babies” at Hope House.
“I have to think about more than me because there’s more than me,” Wilson said. “There are people who are not as fortunate as I am, even though I don’t have it all by any means.”
It’s this spirit that earned Wilson the Employee Spirit Award at the 2010 Corporate Neighbor Awards by Volunteer Mid-South.
The awards were a celebration of workplace volunteerism and recognized Memphis corporations’ dedication to offering up more than just financial capital to nonprofit organizations.
“These volunteers are a source of social capital whose time invested in volunteering pays dividends to nonprofits and the people they serve,” said awards chairwoman Vickye Hester, a communications specialist for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.
Awards were given to large and small companies, for outstanding projects, to executive leaders and, of course, to Wilson, as an employee.
Nonprofit organizations are relying more on volunteer help as the economic downturn shrinks gift-giving budgets.
“There’s a power and an aptitude for problem-solving that exists within our community, and we must foster it if this community is going to show resilience in these hard times,” Hester said.
The power of these efforts can create a “butterfly effect,” described by the event’s keynote speaker, Ed Horrell, as small things having the potential for large effects.
“The very small acts of kindness, of respect and courtesy and dignity, can lead to young people making the decision to volunteer,” said Horrell, author of “The Kindness Revolution.”
“The very small things we do every day can lead to enormous results.”
For Wilson, those results are the smiles and stories of the elderly people she serves, the love from the little ones at Hope House and the “humbling” feeling she gets when she’s made someone’s life “just a little bit brighter.”
2010 Corporate Neighbor Awards
Corporate Neighbor of the Year (large company): Hilton Worldwide
Corporate Neighbor of the Year (small company): Pfizer Global Financial Solutions Americas
Outstanding Project of the Year: Hilton’s Extreme Takeover for Agape’s Families in Transition
Volunteer Executive Leadership Award: B.J. Losch, First Horizon National Corp.
Employee Spirit Award: Sharon Wilson, FedEx Services Inc.
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