Firms giving back: Withum holds Week of Caring

Withum holds its annual Week of Caring; the New Jersey Society donates over 6,600 lbs. of food; Grant Thornton names Sneakers for Soldiers to its Purple Paladin program; and other charitable initiatives from firms across the country.

BERGANKDV

Top 100 Firm BerganKDV saw its staff members donate $77,035 to local United Way campaigns across the firm’s Des Moines, Iowa; St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Waterloo, Iowa offices.

Funds will be used to help young people achieve their potential through education, help families become financially stable and independent, and improving people’s overall health.

“Our employees are passionate about giving back to the communities where we live and work,” stated BerganKDV CEO Dave Hinnenkamp. “We are proud to support the United Way’s work to ensure people have the chance they deserve at an education, a good job, a healthy life and a safe home.”

GRANT THORNTON

Grant Thornton has named Sneakers for Soldiers as the second nonprofit in its Purple Paladin program, which provides up-and-coming charity organizations with funding, business advice and volunteer support.

A 501(c)(3) organization, Sneakers for Soldiers provides fitted athletic shoes to deployed combat troops across all branches of the U.S. military.

“Purple Paladins is about supporting real people who are tackling real issues and making huge personal sacrifices for all of us,” stated Brad Preber, CEO of Grant Thornton. “It doesn’t get much more real than helping men and women serving in combat zones.”

“It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that something as simple as a pair of sneakers is putting a smile on the faces of our soldiers,” said Deborah Hausladen, co-founder of Sneakers for Soldiers, in a statement. “In a little more than a year and half, we’ve been able to provide nearly 1,500 pairs of sneakers through the program, and we’re just getting started.”

H&R BLOCK

Tax prep chain H&R Block has announced a new initiative to build "more sustainable connections" in the neighborhoods it serves, dubbed Make Every Block Better.

As part of the program, the company plans to invest in neighborhood revitalization projects and those that ensure the success of small businesses.

“Social isolation is negatively impacting neighbors and small business owners, and H&R Block is in a unique position to make a huge difference in both circumstances,” stated Jeff Jones, H&R Block president and CEO. “With 10,000 offices that reach every corner of the country and approximately 12 million hours of personal conversations with clients annually, H&R Block has unlimited potential to drive connections needed to bring a positive change in each of our communities.”

H&R Block will look to invest in the following programs: Habitat for Humanity; the Kauffman Foundation; Nextdoor; KCRise Fund II; and the Urban Neighborhood Initiative.

NJCPA

The New Jersey Society of CPAs' Emerging Leaders Council donated more than 6,600 pounds of food and supplies — a record amount — to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and local food banks as part of the society's tenth annual Food Drive last month.

A separate collection from the society raised an additional $2,028.

“The annual food drive is a great chance for those of us in the business world to provide some substantial help to those in our community who are less fortunate," said Katherine Zech, senior manager at PKF O’Connor Davies and leader of the Emerging Leaders Council, in a statement. "Our support grows every year, and it is wonderful to be able to deliver aid to those in need."

Eleven CPA firms in all acted as donation sites, along with the NJCPA’s Roseland offices. Participating firms included: Alloy Silverstein, Cherry Hill; PKF O’Connor Davies, Cranford; WilkinGuttenplan, East Brunswick; Friedman, East Hanover; Mazars USA, Edison; Prager Metis, Hackensack; Gold Gerstein Group, Moorestown; Capaldi Reynolds & Pelosi CPAs, P.A., Northfield; The Green Group, Woodbridge; and Bowman & Company, Woodbury.

The Emerging Leaders Council also hosted its annual Volunteer Night at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside on Nov. 12, 2019, joined by 25 member volunteers to sort food.

“I am always amazed at the outstanding way in which our members donate their time and show support for the food drive every year," stated Ralph Albert Thomas, CEO and executive director at the NJCPA. "Our Emerging Leaders Council has taken the reins on this initiative for the past 10 years, which is a great accomplishment."

WITHUM

Top 100 Firm Withum recently saw staff members across its Northeast offices to volunteer at local nonprofits as part of its annual Withum Week of Caring.

The event is a firm-wide volunteer effort that benefits more than 50 charitable organizations serving the neighborhoods where the firm's offices are located.

“Withum’s Week of Caring is the most visible and coordinated outreach initiative that is the pinnacle of our Withum’s on-going efforts to dispatch our team members’ gifts of talent and time into the community,” stated Bill Hagaman, Withum’s CEO and managing partner. “Now in its eighth year, this year’s Withum Week of Caring marked some of our highest rates of employee participation and an expansion of the scope of organizations with whom we partnered. As always, we are extremely proud of our Withum team and here to help those not-for-profit organizations requiring an ‘all hands on deck’ level of support.”

The week saw hundreds of staff members from seven states provide over 2,500 volunteer hours at the following nonprofits:

Princeton Office: HomeFront NJ in Lawrence Township, New Jersey.
Red Bank Office: Holiday Express of Eatontown, New Jersey.
Whippany Office: Nourish.NJ in Morristown, New Jersey
East Brunswick Office: Rescue Mission of Trenton, Trenton, New Jersey.
New York, N.Y.: Good+Foundation in New York City.
Philadelphia, Pa.: Morris Animal Refuge in Center City.
Washington, D.C.: A Wider Circle in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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