Innovative Strategies for Serving Atlanta: Kicking-off National Volunteer Week in Our Home Town

National Volunteer Week (April 15-21) is a time to celebrate people doing extraordinary things through service.

As the President said earlier this week, “Our Nation has been profoundly shaped by ordinary Americans who have volunteered their time and energy to overcome extraordinary challenges…During National Volunteer Week, we pay tribute to all who give of themselves to keep America strong, and we renew the spirit of service that has enriched our country for generations.”

We are excited to have Deloitte and McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP welcome A Billion + Change to Atlanta on Monday, April 16to kick off National Volunteer Week with a panel discussion, “Innovative Strategies for Serving Atlanta,” focusing on the power of corporate skills-based and pro bono volunteering in addressing community needs and challenges. Speakers at this event will include Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light, Edward S. Heys, Managing Partner for Deloitte’s Atlanta & Birmingham offices and the Chair of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and Jeffrey K. Haidet, Chairman of McKenna Long & Aldridge.

“As the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement with a long-standing tradition of philanthropy and service, Atlanta has long been called ‘The City Too Busy to Hate,’” said Atlanta’s Chief Service Officer Amy Phuong. “But Mayor Kasim Reed believes Atlanta can do more and become the city that is also not too busy to love one another. Our city has a deep culture of business innovation, so we strongly believe A Billion + Change is the kind of challenge our city’s leaders can rise to meet.”

In the spirit of the week, we are reminded how proud we are to house and manage A Billion + Change. As this national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer service from corporate America by 2013 continues to grow and catch the attention of companies across America, we have already seen some amazing examples of businesses and nonprofits working together to address critical community needs at home and around the world.

So far, A Billion + Change pledge companies have pledged nearly $1.8 billion in service to help nonprofits be more effective agents of change:

• Deloitte’s commitment to provide $60 million pro bono professional services is made real by the work of its employees as they provide strategic planning and IT solutions to organizations like the Girl Scouts, Professional Business Women of California and the YWCA
• UPS logisticians and engineers are helping international relief organizations respond to and prepare for disasters while their drivers are teaching low-income teenagers road safety and driving skills
• Right here in Atlanta, Skanska USA has partnered with the Atlanta Mission to design and create the Atlanta Urban Garden, a downtown community garden that benefits more than 500 homeless and recovering men, providing not only reduced cost, healthy and locally grown fresh produce, but also vocational training and purposeful work.

Every day, the campaign’s pledge companies are redefining what it means to help by investing their time and talent to build nonprofit capacity at home and around the world. Building upon the immense success of the pro bono movement in the legal industry, including the valuable services Points of Light received from groups like McKenna Long & Aldridge, A Billion + Change, together with their pledge companies, is inspiring the largest commitment of corporate pro bono service in history.

We look forward to building on this momentum to engage the Atlanta business community next week in a meaningful discussion on highly impactful opportunities for businesses to engage in pro bono and skills-based volunteer service.

We hope you can A Billion + Changes’ breakfast and panel discussion on Monday! Register online for free!

To learn more about how your organization can join A Billion + Change, visit our website at: www.abillionpluschange.org.