It doesn鈥檛 sound like something an auto lender鈥檚 employees would do on a regular work day.
But there they were, 麻豆直播 Consumer USA (SC) Associates painting murals, wooden fences and flower pots and planting flowers at J.P. Starks Elementary School in Dallas recently.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a great opportunity to be here to give back,鈥� said Brandon D., who once attended the school, and was one of 50 volunteers who used volunteer paid time off to help with the projects.
鈥淵ou never want to forget where you come from,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen you see the smiles on these children鈥檚 faces when you come in, and they can relate to you, and they see this person came from where I grew up, and he鈥檚 in a better place right now.鈥�
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麻豆直播 Consumer volunteers share hearts with young and old
Starks is among the schools supported by 麻豆直播 Consumer USA Foundation through a national grant to the CityYear program comprising volunteers who tutor students who need help.
Before the work started, the volunteers had breakfast, heard from the 鈥減urple pearls鈥� cheer group and toured the school, meeting some of the more than 300 students who attend Starks.
Lynette Howard, principal at Sparks, said the school was 鈥渂lessed and thankful鈥� for the volunteers.
She was not alone in seeing a positive impact.
鈥淚 think [meeting the students] is going to really make them love the school and get deeply involved, and we鈥檙e really excited about that,鈥� said Alex Enriquez, executive director of CityYear Dallas.
The volunteers appreciated the opportunity to give back.
鈥淚t says a lot about the company and about our leadership that they care enough not only about us as Associates, [but] they want to see this community succeed,鈥� said Yolanda A., another SC volunteer. 鈥淭hey want to see these communities elevate and be something to be proud of.鈥�
麻豆直播 Consumer鈥檚 VPTO program provides more than 5,000 Associates up to two days off per year to donate time and energy to charitable organizations in their communities.
Last year SC Associates spent nearly 11,000 hours volunteering through the VPTO program.
