Lima Employees Go to the Extreme to Help
Improving the socio-economic well-being of a community sometimes requires extreme measures.
PotashCorp employees in Lima, OH illustrated this point in October 2008 when they helped improve the working conditions of some people on the front lines of philanthropy by answering the call of the United Way of Greater Lima.
The challenge was for 10 businesses to outdo one another in an Extreme Community Makeover Contest. Each company was paired with a United Way partner agency with the goal of making the agency's office a nicer place to work.
The volunteers weren't allowed to spend more than $500, and they had six weeks to finish the work. But there was no limit on how many hours they could volunteer – or how much passion they could put into the job.
The PotashCorp volunteers were assigned to an old building in downtown Lima, where they found a dark, somewhat dingy workspace with water-stained ceiling tiles. Clearly, the office of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Allen County had seen better days.
Like many charitable organizations, Big Brothers/Big Sisters puts most of its budget into the community. The organization helps children reach their potential through mentoring programs with adults. That doesn't leave much money for office decor.
"Many children can be served in Allen County, OH for the price of a coat of paint," says Kendra Bermosk, school-based specialist for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
"Working in those conditions has to wear you down, though," says Danielle Good, PotashCorp Human Resources Manager. "When we walked in there, we couldn't help thinking, 'Could you imagine working here day in, day out?' We knew we could improve the space."
"It felt nice to help out people who spend their days helping out the community," she adds. "It's an issue of caring for the caregivers – the people who often work so hard that they don't care for themselves as much as they should."
More than a dozen volunteers pitched in to pull off wallpaper, paint and replace ceiling tiles at the Big Brothers/Big Sisters office. They even did some demolition.
"We had a room where a wall was blocking one of the few windows in the entire office," Bermosk said. "They knocked down the wall to open up space and let the light in. They didn't have to go to those extremes, but they did."
PotashCorp gave its employees paid time off to work on the United Way project, but many also came in on a Saturday to get the job done.
"A lot of people brought their family members in to help, too," Good says. "It was so rewarding to get in and help. We had fun getting to know each other, both PotashCorp employees learning more about each other and all of us getting to know the Big Brothers and Big Sisters employees."
"It was actually kind of sad when they had to leave," says Bermosk, who joined the PotashCorp volunteers in the Saturday afternoon work. "For those few weeks we'd made a nice connection. We got to talk to them about how we help children in the community, and we got to know a little of what PotashCorp does.
"The makeover was a real morale booster. It's a much nicer place to come to work."
PotashCorp was awarded a "Golden Hammer" award in the United Way's Extreme Community Makeover Contest as a testament to the hard work put into remodeling the Big Brothers/Big Sisters office.
Employees of PCS Nitrogen Lima received two awards for their 2008 contributions to the United Way of Greater Lima.
For a combined corporate and employee gift of more than $400 per employee, the facility received the Award of Excellence, Platinum Level – one of only three companies in the region to receive this honor.
Lima employees also received the Frontrunner Award, for improving their contribution rate by more than 25 per cent (or more than $100 per employee) over the previous year.