Throughout July of 2023, we want to recognize and celebrate all that GrantWorks has given back through volunteer and charity work. The GrantWorks mission is to build stronger, smarter, more resilient communities, and our employees uphold that message both through their work and volunteer efforts.
This year, GrantWorks started a program to allow employees the chance to personally give back. Each employee was allotted eight hours of paid volunteer time to use throughout the year.
GrantWorks has already seen many team members take advantage of this policy and donate their time to efforts, such as helping with food pantries, contributing labor for housing programs, and even working with charity programs outside of the country. Since beginning the policy in February of this year, GrantWorks employees have allotted over 153 hours of volunteer time! Throughout July, we plan to continue spotlighting specific employees’ contributions as they make a difference.
Along with the efforts of individual employees, GrantWorks has also been supporting volunteer programs on a company level. In April, GrantWorks proudly sponsored the GLO Galveston Adopt-A-Beach, an organization that cleans up the Texas coastline to protect the state’s beautiful beaches and environment. Steve Mataro, GrantWorks’ Senior Vice President of Community Relations, has been taking part in this program for 12 years. He and GrantWorks’ President, Bruce Spitzengel, joined the event along with 4,000 other residents to pick up debris along Galveston Island’s beaches.
“By the end of today… the beaches are going to be so much nicer and cleaner than they were just this morning,” said Steve. “That’s the impact from one day of giving yourself, and it’s the difference it could make to the beaches and the community. That’s what GrantWorks is all about.”
Alongside Adopt-A-Beach, GrantWorks was also thrilled to sponsor the Galveston County Daily News Press Run near the end of June. The Daily News Press Run has been an iconic event in the Galveston area for 12 years, and it brings together participants of all ages to sponsor an incredible cause — the Newspapers in Education program.
This program supports childhood literacy by providing newspapers to students in schools and offering professional development opportunities for teachers, thereby empowering them to inspire the next generation of readers and critical thinkers.
Throughout July, we would also like to spotlight GrantWorks’ Medical Debt Relief program which started in 2019. Through this program, GrantWorks has contributed enough funds to eliminate over $10 million of medical debt for residents of our client cities and counties in Texas. The program has changed the lives of people across the state, and we will showcase those responses throughout the month.
GrantWorks’ mission has always been to build stronger, smarter, more resilient communities, and we embody this both in our work and in our volunteer efforts. We hope that every GrantWorks’ employee upholds this belief, and we appreciate every second spent giving back. Thank you to the GrantWorks team members for all that you do.