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The VIEWS Team Cares

The VIEWS team has members in various locations, but one commonality that we have is that we care about our communities. All of our team members have causes that are close to their hearts, and we support each one of those concerns, providing time each quarter for our staff to spend working for the charity of their choice.

image of volunteers in a circle looking down with thumbs up - VIEWS Community Service

In Our Communities

Dinner at the Community Shelter

Mary, a client success manager on the VIEWS team, recently served a meal with her family at the local community shelter.

The Community Shelter of Union County has a vision to “End Homelessness and Hunger in our Community.” They provide food, emergency shelter and instruction to individuals and families in need within the community. In fact, with the help of generous organizations and individuals, the Shelter supplies 3 meals a day, 365 days a year to any in the community who need them. Other services they provide include a soup kitchen, hope pantry, case management, adult emergency shelter, emergency family sheltering, and rapid re-housing programs.

Salad Supplies and Cupcakes | VIEWS Digital Marketing

“People having to endure food insecurity is something that breaks my heart,” Mary stated. “I appreciate that we have this resource, run by such caring individuals, in our community to help those in need, and our family appreciates the opportunity to be part of that help.

Stewart family supported by VIEWS Digital Marketing team

Mary and her family brought dinner consisting of baked ziti, rolls, salad, applesauce and cupcakes for the residents of the shelter and those occupying a local hotel, as well as other community members who came for a meal.

Mary's Daughter with ingredients for ziti | VIEWS Digital Marketing

Blessing Bags in North Carolina

Many families have less than they need, often going without essentials like food and toiletries. Various organizations offer assistance to these individuals and families in need, and one of the ways they do this is through providing “blessing bags” that contain many needed items.

Serve Unity is one such organization in Union County, North Carolina. Serve Unity supports people directly, and they also assist other organizations who provide support, such as the Community Shelter. The VIEWS team volunteered to pack blessings bags and assist others in need. 

VIEWS Digital Marketing team members Jenny and Mary with Jenny's children helpers loading up the van with supplies

Local organizations that participated with Serve Unity were given the opportunity to talk about their programs and how they supported the community. Both Jenny and Mary were excited to be part of the effort and to learn about some other initiatives such as a mobile laundry and shower van.

Jenny noted, “It was inspiring and a little humbling to see how much some organizations and individual people are doing to help those in need.”

Blessing Bags Community Event supported by VIEWS Digital Marketing team members

35 local businesses and organizations, including VIEWS, collected supplies including snacks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, hygiene items and more to fill blessing bags that would later be contributed to various providers in Union County. In addition, 10 bags were earmarked for specific students in local schools who were currently homeless.

Jenny and Mary at Vienna Sausage station | VIEWS Digital Marketing
Washers and Dryers in Mobile Unit

Washers and Dryers

Mobile Shower with soap and shampoo dispensers

Mobile Shower

Mobile Bathroom

Mobile Bathroom

Thanksgiving Dinner Deliveries

Many families, especially this year, are unable to afford a Thanksgiving Dinner. Common Heart is an organization that works to provide food and other necessities to local residents in need. The organization often works with the local Community Shelter to support the community at large. 

At Thanksgiving, Common Heart has an annual Great Turkey Countdown, collecting food and turkeys to distribute the weekend before Thanksgiving. In 2020, they organized deliveries to 1500 community families. Volunteers organized the food, loaded cars, and made deliveries to families. Team member Mary and her husband Pete donated and joined the delivery team this year, though in past years they have participated in loading the cars. 

Packages of food and supplies for Typhoon relief | VIEWS Digital Marketing Community Service
Cars lined up to  get loaded with food for delivery at The Great Turkey Countdown of 2020 | VIEWS Digital Marketing Community Service

Mary says, “It’s a great feeling to be able to help support our community members. I love that Common Heart delivers food to those in need every week. This Thanksgiving Drive brings awareness to the challenges of food insecurity in our local neighborhoods and gives people the opportunity to contribute.”

Typhoon Ulysses Relief Operation Drive 

As part of giving back to the community, the VIEWS Digital Marketing team has partnered with team member Karen’s local village community in the Philippines for a donation drive spearheaded by her cousin. Karen, her family, cousin, and a group of volunteers gathered together to repack food bags, water, rice and hygiene kits.

The main goal was to produce food packs, water, rice, and hygiene kits for 100 affected families in the Rizal province. The outcome the group produced resulted in:

● 145 bags of food groceries (4 canned goods, 2 day packs of instant viand, biscuits, butter toast, 2 boxes of ready-to-drink milk, instant noodles)
● 140 packs of hygiene kits (3 body soaps, sachet of shampoo, 2 toothbrushes, sachets of toothpaste, and 2 feminine napkins)
● 190 bags of rice
● 144 packs of biscuits
● 150+ bottles of water

Rodriguez, Rizal in 2016 before Typhoon Ulysses | VIEWS Digital Marketing
Packages of food for hurricane relief | Community Service by VIEWS Digital Marketing Staff

The donation drive started out with a few donated boxes of old clothes and towels from villagers and family friends. As time passed by, canned goods, water, and hygiene kits came in several boxes!

Karen says, “I am very thankful for my VIEWS  Digital Marketing family for this opportunity to give back to the community. The families in Rodriguez, Rizal hold a special place in my heart. I used to climb their beautiful rocky mountain trails back in 2016. On one occasion, our small group was stranded in the campsite due to the rapid rise of the river water and we couldn’t cross. One of the local residents welcomed us in their humble home and served us warm dinner. It was the most filling noodles I ever had. Many thanks to Ate Lai and her family for keeping us dry and sharing with us what they have. Now it’s our turn to give back.”

 

Lending a Helping Hand to Our Furry Friends

Members of our team have also shared their time, work, and resources to help out animal care organizations. Scott, one member of our Pennsylvania team, has volunteered both his time and his resources to a nearby animal shelter: Forgotten Felines and Fidos. The shelter is a non-profit, all-volunteer, no-kill animal shelter mainly housing cats.

Cat at a shelter - Forgotten Felines and Fidos | VIEWS Digital Marketing Community Service
Cat at a shelter - Forgotten Felines and Fidos | VIEWS Digital Marketing Community Service

According to Scott, “My family took in feral cats, and ever since then Forgotten Felines has been an invaluable resource. We know firsthand the difficult lives these animals live, and so we do our best to provide them with food, care, and money to keep this organization going.” Over the years, Scott has donated many cans of cat food and money to the shelter, along with spending time in the shelter socializing the cats.

In addition to volunteering their time and donating to cat shelters, Scott and his family have helped give a few feral cats homes. During the summer of 2021, Scott and his family found a litter of 4 kittens near their home: 3 calicos and one tabby. The kittens were at least eight weeks old, having already been weaned and able to eat solid food. Scott believed these cats were living underneath a shed or at least using the underside of the shed for shelter. After much deliberation and consulting with neighbors, friends, and animal shelter professionals, Scott and his family attempted to give the kittens homes.

Cat in cage with food bowl, about to be adopted | community | VIEWS Digital Marketing
Litter of cats behind house on rocks | community | VIEWS Digital Marketing

While the initial planning took some time, the actual trapping and giving away was the opposite. In less than a workweek, Scott and his family had trapped the kittens and given them to homes (even receiving more requests than the number of kittens available.) The mother, a white cat, had also been trapped, and Scott and his family got her spayed, preventing any overpopulation of feral cats in their neighborhood.

“Trapping them was exhausting,” Scott said. “We caught [the cats] faster than I think any of us expected. Coordinating everything in such a short time was difficult, especially with regards to getting the mom fixed. But I am glad we did so and that we were able to give them homes where their new owners will take care of them from now on.”

Covid-19 Community Responses

In preparation of Philippines’ hybrid and module-based learning, the teachers from Balagtasin Elementary School in Batangas province rolled out a donation drive “Bond Paper at Printer Ink Mo, Para sa Modyul ng mga Estudyante ko”. It calls for donations of bond papers and inks to make modules for continuous education primarily for students who don’t have access to computers, gadgets, or internet connectivity.

Karen supported the campaign initiated by her childhood friend, who is a teacher from Balagtasin Elementary School, through monetary donation. Karen strongly believes education is one of the keys to ending poverty aside from a good healthcare system.

To see the full story and the silent heroes album visit the facebook site.

 

COVID-19 Fundraiser Posters of Volunteers | VIEWS Digital Marketing

Village Church Donation

Karen’s village has a quaint chapel that she regularly attended for Sunday masses. Our family members have been active in the church and supported its activities since she was a child. As a way to give back to her community, Karen supported the call of her village’s Catholic Society in their renovation plan to repaint the village chapel. Karen’s family made a monetary donation for the beautification of the church.

Mentoring Local Students

image of volunteers in a circle looking down with thumbs up - VIEWS Community Service

The VIEWS team, in particular Nancy Vinkler and Maryn Williams, believe strongly in helping younger generations. During the third quarter of 2020, they took on the roles of mentors to two Philadelphia-area college students who are looking at marketing for their career choices. 

Nancy, Maryn, and the entire VIEWS team took time to coach the young aspiring marketers in various areas related to digital marketing. The students got a real inside look, having the opportunity to join in team meetings and discuss ways to solve various challenges. They got experience working on graphics, examining analytics, and looking at websites from the back end. 

At the end of their time working with VIEWS, both students had broadened their knowledge base, and gotten a better idea of the type of career they would have if they chose particular specializations within digital marketing. Both were enthusiastic about future opportunities to work with the VIEWS team for further education and mentoring.

Mentor Nancy Vinkler | VIEWS Digital Marketing
Mentor Maryn Williams | VIEWS Digital Marketing

Caring for Neighbors with Food Insecurity

image of volunteers in a circle looking down with thumbs up - VIEWS Community Service

Jenny and Mary, who work as part of our Charlotte team, enjoy helping and providing support for the Community Center of Union County. The shelter provides temporary housing, feeds 100+ people every day, and offers assistance with helping individuals and families get back on their feet. 

Mary says, “Food insecurity is such a problem in our communities, and especially now when many people are out of work due to COVID-19, the shelter needs support to help these individuals.” In the second quarter of 2020, the Charlotte team and their families prepared and delivered over 400 sandwiches, along with other needed supplies, to support the “lunch to go” program at the shelter. 

 

Countertop covered with sandwich supplies - VIEWS Digital Marketing
Trunk of supplies next to community center van | VIEWS Digital Marketing
image of devastation following a tornado in Tennessee in 2020 - VIEWS Community Service

COVID-19 Community Responses

For many organizations, the disruption of social isolation is more dramatic than for others. One example is churches. While many churches have online services already, many smaller churches have not ventured into the realm of online church. In the second quarter of 2020, our COO Maryn Williams used her knowledge and expertise with online marketing and services to aid a local church in getting its services online amid COVID-19 restrictions. She developed a plan, outlining the needed equipment and recommended some activity to allow the church’s programs, which include daily services, counseling and missions, to continue.

Some of the recommendations included:

  • Newer iPhone or Computer with camera
  • Streaming platforms or Meeting platforms
  • Mixer
  • Lighting
  • Microphone
  • Backdrops

Tornado Relief

In Tennessee, a tornado crashed through the area in early March taking 25 lives and creating massive destruction in certain areas. The VIEWS team contributed to the fund to help with recovery efforts.

White church building set on grassy hilltop with trees behind | VIEWS Digital Marketing
Inside of Tennessee church, showing empty pews and the altar | VIEWS Digital Marketing