By Linda Coleman
State Personnel Director
State employees give to their communities throughout the year.
The NC Division of Aging and Adult Services’ (DAAS) mission to serve older and disabled adults guides not only the professional lives of the DAAS staff but it also plays a major role in their volunteer efforts. For eight years, the division has maintained a weekly route with Wake County’s Meals-on-Wheels program, delivering meals to seniors in east Raleigh. DAAS will continue to cover the route each Friday in 2012 – rain or shine. On Veterans’ Day, volunteers from Correction Enterprises prepared a meal at the women’s and children’s shelter through the Salvation Army, serving 15 mothers and their children.
Others give regularly through community projects with the State Employees Association of NC. At this year’s SEANC convention alone, state employees contributed $8,000 and numerous baby shower items including: strollers, travel systems, pack-n-plays, diapers and clothing to benefit Operation Homefront of North Carolina. And then there’s the State Employees Combined Campaign. For the 2011 Combined Campaign, state agency and university employees have contributed $4.1 million to charities across North Carolina that will benefit causes from homeless animals to Alzheimer’s disease.
During the holiday season, many state agencies conduct service projects. Employees in District 22 of the Division of Community Corrections co-sponsored a blood drive and served as bell-ringers for the Salvation Army. Correction Enterprises staff collected enough stocking fillers to fill 83 stockings for the Salvation Army of Wake County.
But at this time of year, our hearts go out, particularly, to fighting hunger. The Office of State Personnel, the Division of Community Corrections, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other state agencies and universities are collecting food for food banks and food pantries across the state, delivering thousands of pounds of holiday provisions for their neighbors in need.
State employees are proud to serve their fellow citizens, their communities and their state.
To find a volunteer opportunity in your community, contact www.unitedwaync.org.
