It’s not just about the work. It’s also about giving back to the community.
This summer, as part of its effort to provide more and better outreach to the community, CreativeOne started an internal committee, Creative Cares, and tasked it with organizing the company’s charitable initiatives. The first chairman of the committee, David Shopmaker, is completely committed to that goal.
“In the employee survey, people were asking us to do more, to help more people,” he says. “That’s how this started. We’ve been doing this for about five months. And it’s going great. We’ve already raised $6,000 for our partners, and we’re not even in to 2018 yet.”
The committee’s first event, Hotdogs for Hurricanes, raised $1,707 dollars for storm relief following the hurricane-related flooding in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. But the committee is also working to help two large community partners in addition to its smaller events.
One of the first priorities, David says, is the Veterans Community Project, a non-profit specializing in the needs of homeless veterans. Creative Cares has already organized a drive for hats, socks, and gloves to keep veterans warm during the winter months, as well as a series of events over the week of Veterans Day, including a chili cook-off.
“The ultimate goal is to raise $15,000,” David says. “That’s enough to build a tiny house for a homeless veteran to live in, a place where they can have their own space, be safe, and be sheltered from the elements. We’re about a third of the way to that goal.”
The Veterans Community Project (VCP) builds tiny homes for veterans, and also provides them with service solutions. The organization has “a long-term goal of eliminating veteran homelessness nationwide.”
In the first quarter of 2018, David says, the committee will shift its attention to another anchor partner: Rock Chalk Roundball Classic.
Rock Chalk Roundball Classic is a needs-based charity helping local families who currently battle cancer or other challenging illnesses: “Our goal is to help make the lives of our little cancer fighters a little easier during their journeys.”
Most importantly, David says, is the large number of people involved in Creative Cares — his fellow committee members who’ve been working every day to make sure work gets done for those in need. That includes people like Jessica Schuller, Jennifer Wagler, Sarah Mlynek, Alex McAnderson, Mat Owens, Nicole Peterson, Misty Nelson, Stacey Kessler, and Sean Devlin (who cooked the hotdogs during the “Hotdogs for Hurricanes” event).
“It’s wonderful to see people coming together, working together to help,” David says. “We couldn’t do it without everyone.”
When asked if there’s anything else he’d like to tell people about Creative Cares, David smiles.
“I hope people will get involved,” he says. “We could always use the help. Everyone — from any department — is welcome. We’d love to have you.”