As you probably have heard (more than once), at Realync, we are all about “Keeping It Real“. It’s kind of our thing around here! We are real in our interactions with our clients, with each other, and just as importantly, with our communities.
With this in mind and some Zoom fatigue settling in, we decided it was time to put our energy into something outside of the office and away from the screens. To do so, we dedicated a whole day to giving back to our communities. With a small but mighty team (19 people & counting!) spanning (almost) coast to coast, we knew we had the ability to help. And that we did. After huddling up and making a plan of action, we dispersed to our various locations across the US to spread some realness.
Coast ….
San Diego, CA: National Account Manager, Nadine, volunteered her time at the San Diego Food Bank in San Diego, California. She assisted in helping make over 2,000 meals for residents around the city. For the whole day, Nadine worked at the distribution center and personally handed out meals to people in need.
Oak Harbor, WA: Britni, National Account Manager, spent her day organizing bookshelves at the Habitat for Humanity of Island County Store, located about 60 miles north of Seattle, WA. All of the money made from selling these books is donated to local builds sponsored by Habitat!
…to the greater Midwest…
Chicago, IL: Ani, Patrick, and Lauren D., helped out at a Habitat for Humanity warehouse in the Chicago area and spent their time organizing shelves and tiles and measuring doors! All three of them were blown away by how many people depend on the supplies that are sold in that warehouse.
Minneapolis, MN: Ellen volunteered at the Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank in Minneapolis and helped make over 7,062 meals! Afterwards during our reflection, she informed us that at this time last year, 1/11 people were in need of meals. Now after COVID, that number has increased to 1 in 8 people. Our jaws dropped as we stared at our Zoom screens as we realized that that would come out to at least 2 out of the 19 of us in need of a meal from the food bank.
…and to our Home Base in Indianapolis.
The 9 of us making up the Indianapolis based team spent a day helping out with a build for Habitat for Humanity. We were tasked with covering two houses with another coat of paint with the goal of getting each home ready for the new families to move in before Thanksgiving.
We were blessed to meet and work with Tiffani, the future owner and resident of one of the homes. As I painted the shed in the backyard side by side (socially distanced, of course) with her, she told me about all of the little things she was excited about her new home. She told me the colors her kids wanted their walls in their rooms to be, her Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, and which of the local cats she has befriended and wants to adopt. These real moments with Tiffani reminded me of what being real is all about – making real connections and forming special relationships with one another. I had come with the expectation of working hard all day to accomplish the task at hand, but I had no idea I would have the opportunity to connect with an amazing person like Tiffani.
Habitat for Humanity’s Vision and Mission Statements are very similar to what wakes us up in the morning at Realync. Their Mission Statement goes as follows: “…Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.”
Along with Keeping It Real, our team believes in a world where everyone has a place to call home with food on the table, and can find that home easily. We strive to live out that mission every Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00, by doing our best at our jobs. But we realize that every once in a while, it is so important to leave the office and go help people like Tiffani, and all the other people across the country that we were able to touch that day.
