Announcing TLC's March Year of Service Project

Start spreading the news...TLC is leaving for New York on our March Year of Service project! We're couldn't be more excited to partner with our next organization, Materials for the Arts (MFTA), on a two-day project at their art supply warehouse in Queens.

MFTA provides thousands of New York City arts and cultural organizations, public schools and community arts programs with the supplies they need to run and expand their programs. They gather supplies from companies and individuals who no longer need them and distribute them at no cost to artists and educators in need. The organizational model not only enriches arts education in the city, but it also keeps unwanted materials out of the waste stream and landfills. It’s a win-win all around!

TLC volunteers will spend Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 helping MFTA organize their art supply warehouse and also assisting artists and educators who visit during the organization’s shopping day. If you’re interested in joining clients and friends who’ve already committed to the project, please contact Ashley Gunning at agunning@thelukenscompany.com or 703-845-8484 x231.

We’ll be back later in March to recap!

Announcing TLC’s March Year Of Service Project

Start spreading the news...TLC is leaving for New York on our March Year of Service project! We're couldn't be more excited to partner with our next organization, Materials for the Arts (MFTA), on a two-day project at their art supply warehouse in Queens.

MFTA provides thousands of New York City arts and cultural organizations, public schools and community arts programs with the supplies they need to run and expand their programs. They gather supplies from companies and individuals who no longer need them and distribute them at no cost to artists and educators in need. The organizational model not only enriches arts education in the city, but it also keeps unwanted materials out of the waste stream and landfills. It’s a win-win all around!

TLC volunteers will spend Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 helping MFTA organize their art supply warehouse and also assisting artists and educators who visit during the organization’s shopping day. If you’re interested in joining clients and friends who’ve already committed to the project, please contact Ashley Gunning at agunning@thelukenscompany.com or 703-845-8484 x231.

We’ll be back later in March to recap!

TLC’s Year Of Service Stops In Austin

The rain didn’t stop TLC staff from exerting a bit of manual labor in exchange for a good cause down in Austin, TX! Our second stop on TLC’s Year of Service tour introduced us to Green Doors, a small organization in Austin committed to preventing and helping end homelessness in Central Texas. They do this not only by creating affordable, safe, quality housing for formerly homeless residents, but also by providing residents with the support services and education needed to end chronic homelessness.

So while rain deterred our original plans to get outside and help Green Doors with landscaping needs at several of their housing facilities, volunteers found plenty of work to keep them busy indoors. Over the course of two days, TLC staff helped build furniture for two apartments in Green Doors’ transitional housing site for veterans at Pecan Springs.

TLC volunteers also got a tour of several Green Doors housing facilities located throughout the Austin area. Account Assistant Joe Richards commented, “It was amazing to see the number of apartment complexes and houses Green Doors provides for disabled veterans and families struggling with homelessness. The sense of community amongst the residents is very apparent.”

Click to see more photos from TLC's Austin Year of Service project!

The experience was inspiring to volunteers. Lynn Levendusky, graphic designer, shared, “It was heartwarming to hear stories about previously homeless individuals who were given a place to live and a chance at gaining independence through the services Green Doors offers.”

And the impact the group’s work and philanthropic contribution will have on Green Doors residents is invaluable. “So often, our residents come to us with nothing; opening a door to a fully furnished apartment really makes a house feel like a home,” said Avalon Rehn, volunteer coordinator at Green Doors. Joe agreed, “By far the best part of the entire experience was seeing the finished product – a beautifully furnished apartment that will greet one resident when they move in for the first time.”

New residents begin moving into the apartments at Pecan Springs March 6.

TLC would like to thank Green Doors for welcoming our volunteers on this project. For more information about volunteer opportunities with Green Doors, or to make a gift, contact Avalon Rehn, Volunteer Coordinator at 512-469-9130 x305 or arehn@greendoors.com.

Announcing TLC’s February Year of Service Project

We’re still winding down from our first Year of Service project, but at the same time looking ahead to February when a group of TLC staff will head to Austin, Texas for our next project. We can’t wait to team up with our next organization, Green Doors.  

Green Doors is based in Austin and their mission is to prevent and help end homelessness in Central Texas by creating affordable, safe, quality housing for those in need; providing residents with access to support services; and educating about and advocating for individuals and families struggling with homelessness.

Volunteers on this project will spend two days (Tuesday, February 28 and Wednesday, February 29) helping staff at Green Doors prepare their community garden for spring harvest and also removing unwanted landscaping from their housing for homeless veterans. We look forward to getting a little dirty for this worthwhile cause!

Want to join TLC staff and a number of clients and friends who’ve already committed to the project? Contact Ashley Gunning at agunning@thelukenscompany.com or 703-845-8484 x231.

Make sure to check back here for a recap on this project and find out what we’re planning for our trip to New York in March.

TLC and Friends Conduct Beach Clean-Up with Heal the Bay

It was a sunny and mild January morning in Los Angeles when one enthusiastic bunch of TLC staff, along with local clients and vendors, met at Santa Monica Pier to take part in our very first Year of Service project – a beach clean-up with Heal the Bay.

The day started with an orientation led by Heal the Bay volunteer coordinator Kate Nevels where volunteers learned more about the organization’s important work protecting Southern California’s coastal waters.Then the group split into two teams (the Dirt Devils and the Kickin’ Butts) and the real work began.To keep things interesting, Heal the Bay organized two friendly competitions to determine who collected the most trash (congratulations, Dirt Devils!) and which team picked up the most cigarette butts (nice work, Kickin’ Butts!). Collectively the group picked up 61 lbs. of trash and the amount of cigarettes collected reached over four feet tall.

Our first Year of Service project was a great success. We’re proud to say everyone in attendance had a productive and rewarding experience. Danielle Brown, Vice President of Annual Giving, Natural History Museum LA summed the day up best, “Our mission at the NHM is to inspire wonder, discovery and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds and the task of cleaning the beach falls perfectly in-line with this. It was a wonderful way for me to build my team’s relationships with one another, align ourselves with the Museum’s mission, and spend some time bonding with one of our largest Museum partners (that’s you, TLC!).”

Thank you to Heal the Bay, Natural History Museum LA, The Monaco Group, Hoon Designs and The Pinnacle List Company for helping with this project. For more information about volunteer opportunities with Heal the Bay, or to make a gift, contact Kate Nevels at 310-451-1500 x159 or knevels@healthebay.org. 

For more photos from this project, click here.

Announcing TLC’s January Year of Service Project

Organizing TLC’s Year of Service has been a labor of love, and there is still much to be done. But after a month-long nomination process and hours of research, we’re ecstatic to announce the very first organization we’re partnering with for TLC’s Year of Service (drumroll, please): Heal the Bay!

Heal the Bay is a LA-based nonprofit committed to making Southern California’s coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy and clean. In addition to organizing regular beach clean-ups, the organization uses a science-based approach to guide their education, community action and advocacy efforts. On January 24, staff from both our DC and LA offices, along with some of our LA based clients and vendors, will lead a one-day beach clean-up in Santa Monica with Heal the Bay.

Want to join TLC staff and a number of clients and friends who’ve already committed to the project? Contact Ashley Gunning at agunning@thelukenscompany.com or 703-845-8484 x231.

Stay tuned for a recap on this project later this month and also for the announcement of February’s charity in Austin, TX!

The Lukens Company Gives Back This Holiday Season

It’s the season of giving and in keeping with our company philosophy of supporting the local community, TLC employees collected and donated items for two local DC charities this December.  In all, over 200 items were collected for the DC Foster Care System and the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.

The DC Foster Care System’s Pajamas for Kids drive is an initiative created by a local foster mother, Kathleen Jackson, in order to fill a need that was not currently being met by regular donations to the DC Foster system. Staff collected pajamas for kids of all ages in addition to much needed winter accessories and other items. A special effort was made to remember teenaged kids since this age group is the most often forgotten when it comes to donations.

To learn more about the DC Foster Care System’s Pajamas for Kids, read this article about the initiative and how you can help.

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington has been committed to the humane treatment of animals and to the promotion of animal welfare. The League provides temporary care and refuge for homeless and suffering animals, places animals in loving, responsible homes, provides animal control services to Arlington County and educates the public on a wide variety of Community services. Throughout the year, the organization relies on the public to provide necessities for the dogs, cats and other small animals in their shelter.

To learn more about in-kind donation needs at The Animal Welfare League of Arlington, visit their website.

Stay tuned for an update early next month on our Year of Service, including the announcement of our first volunteer project. And from all of us at TLC, best wishes for the New Year!

Happy Birthday to us!

The Lukens Company celebrates 25 years of business this year and, as in the past, we’re celebrating by participating in a company-wide volunteer project! For TLC’s 20^th anniversary in 2006 staff flew to New Orleans and worked with Habitat for Humanity and in 1996 for our 10^th anniversary, we volunteered at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camp in Florida. 

TLC staff on the front step of the house they helped build in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina.

But for our 25^th, choosing just one volunteer project proved to be an impossible task, so instead we’ve set our sights on supporting twelve organizations.

2012 will be a Year of Service for TLC in which each month the company will support a new charity in a different city. Every month we will send a small group of staff to volunteer for an organization. Activities will vary in terms of the charities’ missions and the work we do. We’re all excited to make a difference in the many communities TLC and our clients are connected to – and no doubt have some fun while we’re at it!

Stay tuned for more details as this project as it unfolds. Want to get involved? Contact Ashley Gunning, Marketing and Communications Manager, at agunning@thelukenscompany.com. 

TLC Brings Holiday Joy to the Campagna Center in Alexandria, VA.

Throughout the year and especially during the holiday season TLC participates in volunteer activities that give back to the local community. This December, TLC staff donated and delivered over 80 toys to the Campagna Center in Alexandria, VA. The Campagna Center serves more than 1,500 lower income children and their families and provides programs that give children the skills they need to achieve academic success. The toys donated by TLC were part of the Center’s virtual “Toy Store," where parents of children in the Early Head Start and Head Start programs are given the opportunity to choose from new toys for their holiday gifts. The event is one of many that support the Campagna Center’s mission of drawing together resources from the community to strengthen families and provide programs that help children become caring, productive adults.

To learn more about the programs at the Campagna Center visit their website at  www.campagnacenter.org

TLC Staff Volunteers at the USO to Help Support U.S. Troops.

Following our company philosophy of actively helping worthy charities that strengthen our communities, families, and country, The Lukens Company employees spent part of our 2009 Holiday Party volunteering with the USO in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Our festive crew of 27 volunteers spent a morning assembling care packages that included snacks, toiletries, and personal items, to be shipped to American military personnel stationed in Iraq. See all the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Lukens2009/USOAndChristmasLunch#