Houston Dynamo Football Club completed it's second annual company-wide All Staff Volunteer Day on Thursday, December 8th. The follow-up to last year's event saw an ambitious eight organizations impacted as opposed to last year, with benefits to the wider Houston community across a variety of needed areas increasing.
"Following last year's event, we're proud to have increased our return to our community in 2022,” Houston Dynamo Director of Community Relations and Dynamo Charities Valerie Holland said. "We're grateful to all of our staff and players who showed up to give back to our city at eight different organizations. It was a successful day in our community, and all of us cannot wait to get ready for year three in 2023."
Kicking off the day at the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, employees helped spread over fifteen cubic yards of mulch throughout Wortham Grove. As a non-profit, Buffalo Bayou Partnership relies on volunteers to do essential day-to-day work like this to support it's employees projects of maintaining the operation and development of one of Houston's best parks. Nearby, a morning group of volunteers headed to Houston Arboretum & Nature Center. Employees helped the Arboretum staff with the upkeep of over 500 feet of trails. The team hauled loads of mulch from multiple collection sites to active trails around the Arboretum, helping keep the trails marked, dry, and safe for people to walk.
At Project C.U.R.E., a worldwide distributor of donated medical supplies, a group organized and packed medical equipment so that it could be shipped off to hospitals in need. Founded in 1987 to address the staggering shortage of medical resources around the world, Project C.U.R.E. has become the world’s largest distributor of donated medical supplies, equipment and services to doctors and nurses serving the sick and dying in more than 135 countries.
Working at Combined Arms, Dynamo and Dash Staff helped sort and wrap presents for over 300 families. Combined Arms works with veterans in the community to provide programs that support their needs and interests when they return home.
In a flagship event, two groups of staff joined the Houston Fire Department for their annual Operation Stocking Stuff event. In the first part of the event, Steve Clark, Corey Baird, and Shea Groom shopped for gifts at a local Target - with the Dynamo and Dash donating $10,000 towards the shopping spree. Following the stop at Target, staff joined the Houston Fire Department for their annual sorting event ahead of local toy distribution. Employees sorted, packed and transported more than 1,500 bags full of toys and education tools that will help more than 1,500 local families.
At the Houston Food Bank, groups helped pack bags for the Backpack Buddy program, which gives children food for their weekend as they depart school on Friday. This stop was one of the most impressive impacts of the day, with over 9900 meals being packed across 11 pallets by Dynamo and Dash employees. A longtime volunteer favorite, an astounding 720 kids lunches - full of protein and fruit - were packed at Kid’s Meals. We also packaged two large boxes of cabbages for deliver to families who cannot afford produce.
Last but not least, our volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House organized gifts in Santa's workshop and sorted through outgoing gift delivery palettes. In the spirit of the holidays, a group also decorated a Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash tree - one of three trees worked on throughout the day that will help bring holiday cheer in families staying at the facility.
Dynamo Charities, following its biggest year yet, is currently gearing up for a busy 2023 season. Whether through donation or volunteering, we'd love for you to get involved! For more information, please click here.
