Each year Holladay Properties holds two community service weeks, one in the spring and one in the fall, to help enrich the communities it serves. This fall’s service week has been a huge success. On Wednesday, October 12, over a dozen Holladay crew members gathered at the Washington Park Zoo to volunteer and help prepare the zoo for winter.
Holladay Properties is extremely driven in helping out the community—so driven that the company provides each of its employees with 32 hours of volunteer time off. Not only is this wonderful for employees, but it also ensures that everyone has time to go out and make a difference.
“It’s so special. I’ve been in other offices and other businesses, and I’ve never had something like this. I’ve always been passionate about serving and volunteering for different organizations and helping out, but I always had to take my time off and use my vacation days, so this is just such a great opportunity. They’re truly living up to their mission statement,” said Laura Small, project architect at Holladay Properties.
Service week is another big way that the company upholds its mission. Each year the team tries to volunteer for different organizations that often go unnoticed, and they thought volunteering at the zoo would be a perfect opportunity.
The crew spent hours building new platforms for the goats, hauling and raking out stones, and residing the chicken coops. The team even got stuck in a morning downpour. However, everyone had huge smiles on their faces the whole time and couldn’t be happier to be making a difference.
“Working with the zoo has been great. It was so nice of them to let us come out here and volunteer. We’ve enjoyed working with them,” said Clayton Trueblood, vice president of Holladay Construction Group.
The Washington Park Zoo is just one stop of many during the team’s service week. On Tuesday, the crew volunteered at the Humane Society of Hobart. Later this week the team has plans to carve and deliver pumpkins to the Portage YMCA for its Halloween party, volunteer at a local nursing home, and hold a donation drive for the Humane Society of Hobart.
The team’s favorite part of volunteering in the community is seeing how much of a difference it makes.
“I love seeing the reactions of the people that we help. For us it’s just a day of work—we’re just coming out to help those in need—but you don’t realize the impact you can have just by bringing everyone together,” said Small.
The Holladay Properties crew has already touched so many lives this week. The team members at the zoo brought in some animals for the team to pet and play with as a thank-you for everything they’ve done. Jennifer Webber, the executive director of the Humane Society of Hobart, couldn’t even begin to explain how thankful they are for Holladay’s help.
“Words cannot express how grateful we are and how much Holladay has enriched our lives and the lives of homeless pets in need,” said Webber.
Not only is service week a great way for Holladay Properties employees to go out into the community and make a difference, but it’s also the perfect opportunity to bring the team together and bond with one another.
“A lot of people you get to see in the office every day but then there are a lot of people that you don’t. It’s fun to come out and help good causes and work together with some of these guys that you don’t get to see a lot,” said Michelle Mosier, admin of the Portage Holladay office.
Of course, none of this would be possible if it weren’t for the company’s leadership and continued drive to make the world a better place.
“I’d like to thank our CEO and President Tim Healy. He’s always encouraging everyone to volunteer, and he makes it so that it’s not all about work all the time. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know that we’d all be doing it, so he’s great. We’re all so thankful that he’s leading us in this direction,” said Mosier.
To learn more about Holladay Properties and its mission to enrich the community, visit https://www.holladayproperties.com/.
