Press Release

OneAmerica Goes Virtual for 7th annual Week of Caring

Issued by OneAmerica

Sept. 9, 2020

All-time high number of nonprofits will be aided Sept. 8-11 as associates contribute remotely

Indianapolis, September 9, 2020  -- Giving back remains business as usual at OneAmerica® this week, as associates will contribute over 1,200 volunteer hours to assist an all-time high number of nonprofits during the company’s seventh annual Week of Caring. This year the tradition will continue with virtual engagement supporting multiple United Way organizations in home office communities across the country.

“Week of Caring is as hands-on as it can safely be, with associates creatively using the resources we have and maximizing technology, talent and teamwork,” said Jennifer Pittman, vice president, Enterprise Communications and Community Affairs at OneAmerica. “Nonprofit organizations need our help now more than ever, and while giving back may look different in 2020, we remain committed to our community volunteerism.”

OneAmerica has always provided busy associates virtual and off-line options if they were unable to contribute through traditional volunteer opportunities such as landscaping, packaging food, cleaning up, preparing food, painting, reading to senior citizens and students, and assisting in classrooms. The experience with computer-based volunteerism came in handy while planning this year’s activities, which will take place over four days.

“We’ve coordinated a meaningful way to volunteer during the workday, allowing associates to become more familiar with those organizations that are generously supported through our annual giving campaign,” Pittman said. “Because we’re virtual, we are actually able to include more nonprofit organizations and care for our neighbors in a variety of ways.”

For example, more than 300 associates will play “virtual bingo” with 25+ volunteer options in the OneAmerica home communities of Indiana, Wisconsin, California and Maine. Once an associate completes a row of bingo squares (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) they can register to win a prize.

The roughly 30 volunteer assignments include:

• Assisting the American Red Cross in mapping remote places around the world
• Sharing musical or storytelling skills (using a virtual platform) in 30-minute increments, entertaining clients at Sycamore Services, which helps those with disabilities to achieve goals and gain independence;
• Assisting clients of Public Advocates in Community Re-entry (PACE) with résumé creation
• Holding a career story chat with a small group of college scholars from TeenWorks, whose mission is to empower underserved youth to achieve excellence
• Writing and mailing 50 thank-you cards to Jameson Camp supporters, who enable programs that help the nonprofit with its mission to serve youth with social and emotional challenges

In 2014, OneAmerica became the first organization in central Indiana to devote an entire week to volunteer activities with its United Way Week of Caring.

In addition to its annual Week of Caring activities, OneAmerica made good on other traditions in 2020 in a virtual way by again holding its summer internship program and its Pathways junior fellows programs.

BINGO

Nonprofits on the special card are in Central Indiana, except where location noted differently:

• Children’s TherAplay
• Christamore House
• CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions
• Coburn Place
• Damien Center
• Girls Inc.
• Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana
• Hawthorne Community Center
• Heartland Film Festival
• Horizon House
• Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation
• Jewish Family Services (San Diego)
• John Boner Neighborhood Center
• Junior Achievement of Central Indiana
• Patachou Foundation
• Pathfinders (Milwaukee)
• Pillars, Inc. (Appleton)
• Project Homeless Connect (Milwaukee)
• ReadUP (a United Way of Central Indiana program)
• United Way of Central Indiana
• United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County
• United Way of Greater Portland
• Volunteers of America
• Words Alive (San Diego)

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