Firms giving back: DMJ & Co. takes Polar Plunge for Special Olympics

Centage Corporation, which provides cloud-based budgeting, forecasting, analytics and reporting solutions, has announced its 2020 goals for its Centage Gives Back community outreach program.

Throughout the year, Centage employees will look to provide at least 300 hours of service to local organizations in its home of Natick, Massachusetts, including:

Natick Service Council. Teams of five Centage volunteers will work in the food pantry of this nonprofit organization, which supports those experiencing hardships.

Ashland ReStore, Habitat for Humanity. Starting this month, teams of 10 Centage employees will volunteer to help staff of the Ashland ReStore with various store tasks.

Community Harvest Project. Throughout the year, Centage employees will perform a variety of tasks as needed by the Community Harvest Project, a nonprofit farm.

Birthday Wishes. Teams of seven Centage employees will participate in wrapping parties to prepare birthday celebrations for homeless children.

“We are proud of our employees and their commitment to serving those in need," said John Murdock, CEO of Centage, in a statement. "We embarked on this program as a way to give back to the community in which we live and work; a community that has given us so much in terms of talent and resources. We realized over the past 12 months that volunteering offers many benefits in return, especially with regards to team building, creating a more inclusive corporate culture, and making Centage a better place to work. We look forward to getting out into the community and working side-by-side with these incredible organizations throughout the year."

Greensboro, North Carolina-based DMJ & Co. recently participated in the Triad Chill Polar Plunge, benefitting the Special Olympics, on Feb. 29, 2020.

Twenty team members (honoring the firm’s 20th consecutive year of involvement in the event) took their plunge at the local Wet n’ Wild in Emerald Pointe. DMJ was able to raise more than $14,500 for the Special Olympic through the event. Overall, the 2020 Triad Chill raised more than $70,000 in donations.

Caren Rodriguez, DMJ's chief marketing officer, and Mike Gillis, managing partner, also presented the Special Olympics with a symbolic check commemorating DMJ’s fundraising total of more than $175,000 since the firm's inaugural Polar Plunge in 2000.

“Both the Triad Chill and Special Olympics is a mission close to our hearts. Being part of this event is such an integral part of who we are at DMJ," said Rodriguez in a statement. "We are so fortunate for our engaged firm members and our DMJ community that have given generously of their time and resources to our efforts. Their support, and the enthusiasm, is a credit to our ongoing commitment and relationships with Special Olympics. “

DMJ’s 2020 team of polar plungers included professionals Ashleigh Anderson, Jess Bankhead, David Mize, Robbie Stokely, Kelly O’Brien, Matthew Knott, Kelly Wagner, Andrew Esses, Emily White, Jana Fox, Yvonne Ingold and Beverly Primavera of Greensboro, and Jeffrey Houston and Drew Steel of Durham.

Prager Metis CPAs, a Top 100 Firm in New York, is teaming up with the Alzheimer’s Association to create an Accounting Industry Leadership Council with the goal of inviting more accounting firms to join efforts like the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s and raise awareness of the disease that afflicts millions of Americans.

“Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s and all other dementia,” said Rob Lucas, director of corporate initiatives at the Alzheimer’s Association. “That’s our main goal. We lead the way by accelerating global research. We're the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer’s research in the world, driving risk reduction and early detection, which can make a huge difference, and then maximizing quality care and support. It’s not just the over 5 million people living with the disease, but the 16 million unpaid caregivers who are providing support for their loved ones, and then also the friends and families who are affected by this, which numbers in the many tens of millions. We have our work cut out for us, and that’s why this initiative is so important.”

Peter Scalise, federal tax credits & incentives practice leader at Prager Metis, got involved in the Alzheimer’s Association after seeing some of his loved ones suffering from the disease.

“Charitable fundraising and supporting philanthropy is a fundamental part of the core culture within the CPA community amongst firms of all sizes nationwide, and I am truly honored to serve as the founding chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association’s newly formed Accounting Industry Leadership Council in an effort to increase awareness and raise funds to identify a cure for the sixth leading cause of death within the United States,” he said.

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