Doing Business & Doing Good

We are back at it again. It’s a new year and we are all turning toward our business and job responsibilities once more. And that’s a good thing. However, it is sad to lose the “end of year” feeling where the focus is more on the holiday spirit and helping others. My wish is that people could continue in that vein as we start this year.

There are many different ways to help. The most obvious is giving money, but that’s not for everyone. Here is another idea: How about using your skills and talents to give back? Find something you believe in, which matches your area of expertise, and donate your services.

That’s exactly what we are doing here at Perspectives with an idea brought to us by one of our corporate customers, Burrell Communications. Burrell’s CEO, Fay Ferguson, felt overcome by the gun violence and increasing number of deaths in Chicago. She recognized that the focus of media attention was on the causes of the violence, but there was no discussion about helping to alleviate the suffering of the surviving family members, often innocent children, who are left grappling with sudden loss, with nowhere to turn and afraid to seek help.

Fay approached Perspectives (Burrell’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider) to see if we would be willing to partner and put together a grief-counseling program for the victims of gun violence. Along the way, we added the law firm of Winston & Strawn to assist with the legal expertise needed to get the initiative going. We also enlisted the support of Father Michael Pfleger with St. Sabina Church and Pam Bosley from “Purpose Over Pain,” an advocacy and support group for those families who have lost someone to violence.

We put all of our skills and expertise together to launch the program called “Allies of Innocence.” Visit www.facebook.com/AlliesofInnocence to learn more. We are now in the process of raising the necessary funding so recipients can receive grief and trauma counseling services at no cost.

This is our way to give back. Sure, it takes a lot of time and effort, but this collaborative initiative has infused energy and ignited a passion in our organizations. It has also served to involve all of the employees and partners of our respective organizations and organize them around a common purpose; to help those in need.

So let’s keep up the spirit of giving…in any form that’s right for you. The benefits are tremendous. Happy 2017! I hope you can feel the same kind of exhilaration that our team feels in doing some good work.

Special thanks to our partners, Burrell Communications, Winston & Strawn, Father Michael Pfleger and St. Sabina and Pam Bosley of Purpose Over Pain.