In honor of National Volunteer Month, our Corporate Liaison Ashley Nicoson sat down with our Digital Content Specialist, Carley Mossbrook, to discuss why United Way of Metro Chicago is the perfect one-stop shop for volunteers who want to get involved.
In a large warehouse just south of McKinley Park, Anthony Lighthall and his colleagues at National Futures Association (NFA) prepared for a busy day of community service. Outside of his human resources role at NFA, Anthony leads the company’s workplace campaign. He encourages his fellow employees to support United Way and facilitates service projects that advance our mission to build stronger neighborhoods.
In his lifetime, Charles Matthews’ career has taken him and his family around the United States and beyond. Though his title and coordinates have changed, his commitment to serving as a philanthropic leader in the workplace hasn’t.Serving as president and chief executive officer of Peoples Energy, Charles oversees the daily operations, strategy, growth and administrative activities of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas. Together, the two utilities distribute natural gas to more than 1 million residents in Chicago and the northern suburbs.
It’s no secret that we have great partners at United Way of Metro Chicago. We’re able to join forces with some of the best, brightest and most benevolent business leaders across the region in our fight for stronger communities. While there are endless ways that our corporate partners invest in the neighborhoods we serve, we wanted to highlight a few that are making significant strides toward improving outcomes.
Mentoring, at its core, provides a young person with an adult figure who is invested in their future. It’s someone who’s in their corner that they can look up to and help them navigate their day-to-day challenges. For Justin, a shy high school freshman enrolled in the Stay In School initiative having a mentor made all the difference in his academic and career pursuits.
For more than a decade, employees from Exelon and ComEd have mentored an astounding 25,000 middle- and high-school students in the Chicago region. As part of an effort to fight dropout and high truancy rates in Chicago Public Schools, employees from the two utility companies are paired with students from six United Way community partners as part of the Stay In School (SIS) Initiative. Those agencies include B.U.I.L.D. Inc., Corazon Community Services, Gary Comer Youth Center, Project: VISION, Young Men’s Educational Network’s, and Youth & Opportunity United.