To us they’re more than words:
MJ exists to inspire the success, fulfillment, and wellbeing of each person we serve: our associates and their families, business partners, clients and our community.
That’s the MJ Purpose Statement, and this week, which happens to be “National Volunteer Week,” our team is focusing on service to the community. Yet we know it takes more than seven days to really make a long-term impact, so MJ actively supports our employee volunteer efforts throughout the entire year by awarding each person volunteer service hours to use during the workday, so they don’t have to use their own personal time off. We’re genuinely proud of their dedication and impressed with their passion. This year, MJ employees have given over 2,100 hours to 37 different organizations.
As an organization, we also typically choose two “Charities of Choice” a year to focus the majority of our fundraising and group volunteer efforts. This year our selected charities are:
- The Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC), an internationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to autism research, education, evidence-based treatment, and community outreach.
- TheHumane Society for Hamilton County (HSHC), which is currently Indiana’s only open admission, no-kill animal shelter. The HSHC gives every animal that can be rehabilitated the second chance it deserves to find a forever home.
We just completed a fundraiser for the HSHC here in Indianapolis, which we called the Bark-It Challenge to play off all the bracket challenges that happen as part of March Madness. During this event, we collected an incredible amount of supplies to help the shelter care for its occupants, from 649 sponges and 337 cans of food, to more than 9,800 waste pick-up bags and 160 pounds of kitty litter. In Phoenix, our team just finished a volunteer day at that city’s Humane Society on April 13th.
And as a Humane Society partner, we’d be remiss if we didn’t close out this blog by mentioning that April 30th is National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day. We’ve seen firsthand how pets can impact and enrich lives, so we encourage you to consider adopting this month. As noted by The Huffington Post, “Not only does adopting save an animal’s life, but it also improves your own health and happiness in myriad ways.”
If you’d like to learn more about MJ’s volunteering efforts, just visit our In the Community page. We also hope you’ll take the time to share a comment below about your own chosen charities or what you’ve seen companies do to support employee volunteerism.
