Realizing the holidays are difficult for individuals and families going through hard times, City of Thomasville employees are celebrating the spirit of the season by spreading joy and cheer to others in need through a variety of “giving back” opportunities.
Throughout the year, City of Thomasville employees have opportunities to benefit fellow employees directly or donate directly to local organizations. One example is participation in the City of Thomasville Charity Fund. Employees can donate a dollar amount of their choice to the Charity Fund, which is deducted directly from their paycheck each pay period.
“The Charity Fund was created to directly assist our fellow employees,” noted Dominic Ford, Executive Director of Human Resources, Risk Management & Community Outreach. “You never know the life experiences someone is facing, and this fund recognizes those needs and helps to make a difference.”
Any City Employee can make a request for assistance from the fund, with requests voted on by all Charity Fund members. Additional funds remaining at the end of the year are then disbursed to non-profit organizations throughout the community. This year, over $19,000 was disbursed to 13 local organizations.
Employees also have opportunities to make direct donations to organizations during the holiday season. Employees can sponsor a child through Never Lost, a local advocacy center that advocates for children in the foster care system, and select items to purchase from a child’s Christmas wish list.
“The City of Thomasville has worked with Never Lost for a number of years to help bring Christmas joy to children in need,” noted Ford. “We normally assist about 26 children each year, purchasing gifts from clothing to bikes to toys. As soon as we make our employees aware of the list of items needed, all of the wish lists are accounted for in a matter of minutes because our employees are invested in helping others in our community.”
Two years ago, the City of Thomasville created an employee initiative called Project 5000, with the goal of collecting 5,000 food items for the Thomas County Food Bank. Employees were encouraged to donate food items that would be delivered just before the Thanksgiving holiday. That goal has been met for the past two years, with about 5,500 items collected this year alone.
“The beautiful part of this experience is the spirit of our employees in working together to meet the goal,” said Ford. “Employees make it a friendly competition among departments, and staff help load and transport the items to the food bank because they want to play a part in the entire experience from start to finish.”
Currently, City of Thomasville employees are donating new or used blankets to assist Wecovery, a Peer Recovery Center that is providing blankets to individuals in need of warmth and compassion during the holiday season.
Knowing the holidays can be difficult for many, the City of Thomasville has also recently compiled a Community Resources Guide, listing contact information for a range of resources from child advocacy to homelessness. Copies of the guide are available at the Thomasville Visitors Center.
For more information about the City of Thomasville, visit Thomasville.org.