2011 Day of Service participation increases across the Firm
Client(s) Jones Day of Service
The Jones Day of Service participation has increased across the Firm. For the last five years, the Washington Office has been hosting a Jones Day of Service every summer. Last year Houston joined the effort. This year the Jones Day of Service fever took hold and Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Irvine, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Washington all held a Jones Day of Service.
Jones Day New York got the ball rolling early in the summer with their inaugural event. On June 11, the office partnered with the NYC CoolRoofs Program, which helps reduce building temperatures, lower CO2 emissions, improve air quality, and save money. Volunteers coated the roof of a NYC Housing Authority building in Harlem.
Stepping up next was Jones Day Chicago. In fact they hosted two, one on June 11 and the other on June 18. There were about 25 volunteers at each (with a few overlapping). During the first event, the Office worked with Chicago Cares annual Serv-a-thon. Chicago Cares is a nonprofit organization that works with community leaders to identify critical needs and then develop targeted programs and mobilize volunteers to meet those needs. The Serv-a-thon is the city's largest day of community service, where volunteers transform the city's schools. About 25 Jones Day volunteers assisted in painting classrooms and playground games at inner city schools. On another weekend, the office teamed up with representatives of the charitable organization, Mentor Teacher Brother, a mentorship program targeting at-risk boys and helping them to get the right start in life. For this event, the office hired a yellow school bus to take another 25 Jones Day volunteers to paint MTB's new Youth Center (which the Jones Day Foundation donated money to help build).
Jones Day San Francisco spruced up the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center during their first Jones Day of Service on June 18. Lawyers and staff helped clean up the grounds of the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. The Center provides job training and placement to over 500 families and has provided housing through its after-hour homeless shelter facility to more than 200 people.
Jones Day Pittsburgh Summer Associates organized a book drive at the Pittsburgh office to collect children's books to donate to the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, July 12, summer associates and lawyers from the Pittsburgh office delivered those books to the branch, and participated in a day of reading, games, and story time with approximately 45 three to six year-olds enrolled in the YMCA's summer day camp. The reading day included an interactive reading of The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh to fit in with the camp's "Happy Birthday America!" theme that week. The book drive resulted in a sizable collection of children's books for the center, and each child was given a new book of his or her own to take home with them at the end of the day.
July 16 found Jones Day Washington at the Sacred Heart School for the office’s Sixth Annual Jones Day of Service. Sacred Heart, with a student body of 220, is the only bilingual school run by the Consortium of Catholic Academies. About 70% of its students live below the poverty line -- one of the highest poverty rates among District of Columbia schools. Hallways were painted bright colors and the classroom doors and trim received a fresh coat of paint. Two new 4-square games were painted in the playground, and one classroom has new cubbies to hold jackets and lunch boxes come Fall. The parents prepared a wonderful meal of carne asada, beef, chicken, and rice. The meal was delicious - and the parents were thrilled to help out. The Office also ran a supply drive for the school, raising nearly $4,000.
On Saturday, July 23, about 40 people from the Irvine Office, as well as their family and friends, celebrated Irvine's first ever Jones Day of Service by repainting the Santa Ana office of the Public Law Center. The PLC is Orange County's only pro bono law firm. Through the work of the PLC staff and volunteer attorneys from Jones Day and other law firms, the PLC provides access to justice to poor residents of Orange County. Many of the participants in our Jones Day of Service also staff clinics, take individual case referrals and make regular donations to the PLC.
On Saturday, August 20, 2011, thirty-seven Jones Day Cleveland employees and family members participated in the Jones Day of Service Project at the Center for Families and Children’s RapArt Center / McMillan School. Following a stellar performance by the Distant Stars, the teen performing group, four offices and a community room were given a fresh coat of paint, and three storage closets were cleaned up. Outside the Center a sandbox was reconstructed for the younger children, a storage shed was organized, and the school’s vegetable and herb garden was rejuvenated. These contributions help the Center to achieve their vision in making success possible in school, work, and life for people in Northeast Ohio’s most challenged communities.
Eleven dedicated representatives from Jones Day's new Boston office turned out on a hot and sticky August morning to help ready the Mission Grammar School in the Mission Hill area of of Boston. Some of the accomplishments included the construction of a new loft play area, the enhancement of the school's curb appeal by weed removal, sweeping and raking, the repair of desks and chairs, and a new teacher got help with sorting books, arranging furniture and labeling tubs. The Mission Grammar School was ready on opening day!
