Bringing Warmth to the Season Through Community Partnerships

Sunday, December 22, marks the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. With fewer hours of daylight available to keep us busy in the great outdoors, we have more time to slow down, turn inward, and reflect on what is most important. At Murraysmith, one of our core values is giving back to our communities. In addition to providing employees with eight hours of paid volunteer time each year, we are proud to support non-profits who are invested in making the world a better place.

Here are some of the organizations we’re excited to partner with this season:

Second Harvest: Help the Hungry

Second Harvest organizes community partners to help feed those in need through food drives, financial donations, and volunteer outreach at emergency food outlets. Staff members at our Spokane office are working with Second Harvest to help sort and pack produce, conduct a food drive, and collect bulk food items in preparation for delivery to emergency food outlets around Spokane. Thanks to Second Harvest, people in almost 30 counties around eastern Washington and northern Idaho will receive over two million pounds of free food. We are thrilled to support Second Harvest in helping to supply resources to over 250 food banks and meal centers that feed 55,000 people per week.

Giving Basket for the Boys & Girls Club of Snohomish County, Cascade Unit

Over at our Everett office, staff members are collecting toys for the Cascade Boys and Girls Club of Snohomish County, which provides over 450 young people from ages 5-18 with a safe place to spend time before and after school. Our Everett team is excited to partner with the Boys & Girls Cascade Club this year to help kids in need enjoy holiday gifts this season. Staff who choose to participate have selected a tag with the child’s gift request and will bring the unwrapped item to work. The Boys and Girls Club will then pick up the gifts, wrap them, and make sure they are received by the child who requested them.

Oregon Food Bank

In Oregon, one in nine families face food insecurity. The Oregon Food Bank is part of a statewide network that’s helping address this staggering issue by feeding over 260,000 people each month. We couldn’t agree more with Oregon Food Bank—”hunger starves the human spirit” and “communities thrive when people are nourished.” To help support their mission, Murraysmith’s Portland December giving drive is collecting donations of food or funds. Items on the “most wanted” list include nut butters, canned vegetables and fruit, pasta, and other healthy staples; and every $10 donation can support up to 30 meals.

Sacramento Children’s Home

In Rancho Cordova, California, Quincy Engineering is teaming up with the Children’s Home this holiday season to help assure that all of the families they serve have what they need. The Children’s Home is a local, non-profit organization that is committed to providing high-quality care to the Sacramento region’s most vulnerable children and families. From providing crisis support for families with infants and toddlers, to offering short-term residential care to foster youth, the Children’s Home focuses on child abuse prevention, intervention, and mental health treatment for the area’s most at-risk children and families.

As our firm continues to grow, we look forward to forming new relationships with organizations who are giving back to our communities.