Team Building for a Cause: Who’s Helping Who?
At the Furniture Bank, we offer gently-used, donated furniture to individuals and families coming out of homelessness and fleeing domestic violence. However, we are often short on key items like kitchen tables. The saddest thing I can imagine is a home without a table, a place to start the day, a place to sit and have the tough conversations, do homework, or share a meal at the end of a long day. It’s heartbreaking to have to say “no” to a family that is truly in need.
Our volunteer groups are the heroes in this scenario. We rely on groups that come and help make up for the shortfall in donations by building tables, and occasionally dressers, for our clients. What’s really fun to watch is the enjoyment and fulfillment groups experience when they realize just how immediately and directly their hard work will impact someone else.
More and more, companies are looking to us for an experience that will bring their team together in a meaningful way. While they are here, they work hard and they play hard. In fact, Playworks Group brought a team to our warehouse for a table build recently and you can see in the video below that while connecting was the order of the day, a whole lot of fun was had (I love what happens when you put a power drill in the hands of someone who has never used one before!). The ultimate outcome was tables to turn houses into homes and a team with a shared a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
Team building is fun. It’s meant to be fun and engaging. But when that time is spent doing something that, in the end, benefits another human being, it’s really hard to tell who benefits the most.
Stephanie Thomas, Community Resource Manager
Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta
404-974-2420