Giving back to the community is part of our company’s DNA. Early in the year we began planning for a weeklong series of events in September to give associates community service opportunities. COVID-19 changed plans, but not our commitment.
Nearly half of our associates virtually volunteered (or participated in safe in-person or at-home activities) with over 20 community agencies across NJ and CT as part of our first-ever Community Impact Week. Below are some highlights of the week.
- We connected with our community by preparing over 350 various kits and Super Hero Capes for kids to support Wheeler Clinic, RAIN Foundation Shelter, Children’s Specialized Hospital, and Zufall Health’s Veteran’s Program.
- We connected worldwide by preparing 8,000+ meals with Rise Against Hunger.
- At Community Foodbank of New Jersey, associates packed 263 boxes of food, which will provide 9,424 meals to seniors in need.
- Created “quarantined” Bears 2 Cure for children with cancer.
- Wrote uplifting notes of encouragement to accompany our Soles4Souls shoe donations.
- We connected our extended families and supported positive childhood development through having our associates (and their friends and family) join Zooms for the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Coastal and Northern NJ’s Virtual Talent Show and Special Olympics NJ’s Virtual Dance Party.
- We connected with Mother Nature by making bird feeders and collecting recycled plastic bags to make mats for the homeless.
- We encouraged and supported others through simple acts of kindness by sending handmade cards to a hospice facility and thank you videos to healthcare workers.
- We connected via social media by sharing photos of our associates walking in their neighborhoods to raise awareness for oral cancer.
- We connected generations through the reading program for seniors where several associates recorded themselves reading poems and short stories that Jersey Cares will be compiling into an audio book for local senior centers and assisted living facilities, through creating curriculum and activity work sheets for youth, and through assembling fun oral health activities for our Foundation grantees.
- We connected with families by helping build a home and by organizing food to fight local food insecurity.
- We connected with the LGBTQ community by becoming educated about their fight for equality and how we can help address oral healthcare inequality within their community.
- We connected our Human Resources’ expertise with the Urban League of Greater Hartford in a Job Readiness Empowerment Session.
Some of the agencies we got to work with this year, shared the below feedback with us:
Rise Against Hunger: “Thank you so much for packing with us on Friday! The volunteers really did an amazing job making a huge impact.”
Community Foodbank: “A very big thank-you to last Friday's excellent group from Delta Dental for assisting at the FoodBank during this time of exceptional need. Your group collaborated with a cohort of other volunteers during the afternoon shift to pack Senior Food Boxes - a critical component of our food distribution mission.”
Jersey Cares: “We are honored to work with Delta Dental as they continue to demonstrate their commitment to their neighbors by participating in programs to support healthcare heroes, isolated seniors, and students adapting to learning in a virtual world. During the Delta Dental Community Impact Week, volunteers participated in a series of meaningful virtual volunteer events with Jersey Cares including: Healthcare Appreciation Video Program – Volunteers shared personalized video recordings to thank medical professionals across the state as they work tirelessly to address patient needs; Senior Reading Series – Volunteers recorded a poem, flash fiction and bedtime story for senior citizens who may not be able to read or have access to audio books during times of isolation. In partnership with several long-term senior care facilities in NJ; and Virtual Educational Enrichment Kits – Volunteers created a virtual packet of tools and games to help Camden Street School students keep up with core curriculum while adjusting to virtual learning. Volunteers created activities focused on math, science, reading and writing.”
Our associates are truly amazing and bring to life our associate volunteer program’s slogan of empowering smiles through volunteerism. We are grateful that so many of our associates were so quick to roll up their sleeves and pull up their masks to help others in need. This year, more than ever, we learned the true power of connection and a smile.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
