BBD’s ninth annual Week of Service took place Sunday, June 4 through Friday, June 9. Our annual Week of Service was created in 2009 as an opportunity for all staff in our firm to give back. Each year, all firm members are invited to spend a week volunteering at the expense of the firm.
2017’s Week of Service was twofold. A portion of BBD firm members completed Habitat for Humanity-style home restoration projects in Eastern Kentucky, and an additional group devoted eight hours of running to Back on My Feet’s Treadmill Challenge in Center City, Philadelphia.
BBD’s Week of Service has traditionally taken place in Kentucky with select years, including 2016, focused on local community service throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. This year, we combined these two Week of Service formats to keep BBD’s beloved and traditional Kentucky service trip intact while allowing those who cannot travel the opportunity to serve locally. Moreover, we feel a responsibility to address the great need here in our own neighborhoods as well as in the country as a whole.
Jim Kaiser, BBD’s managing partner, acknowledges the deep need for service and values giving back. “We’ve been really fortunate here at BBD and, year after year, we strive to pay that forward,” he said. Jim kicked off the Treadmill Challenge as Team BBD’s first runner.
Kentucky Goers Sought Bonding Experience While Helping Others
2017’s trip to Kentucky marked the seventh year BBD firm members traveled the ten hours to the eastern part of the state and the sixth year partnering with the Christian Appalachian Project, a Kentucky-based nonprofit, on the very hands-on service work.
The Kentucky service trip tradition began in 2009 when Mike Boyle, then the managing partner of the firm, inspired by the ABC News 20/20 special, “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains,” committed to an extended service trip to the impoverished state. After years of serving many of the seven counties in the eastern part of the state that are on the U.S. Census Bureau’s list of the 50 poorest counties in the country, the trip has become a true firm tradition, allowing employees to bond while helping others.
Read more about the Christian Appalachia Project’s mission in Kentucky here.
Team BBD Raised $2,000, Ran In Back On My Feet’s Treadmill Challenge
Fourteen BBD firm members geared up to run on Wednesday, June 7, to support Back on My Feet’s annual Treadmill Challenge. Back on My Feet is a national nonprofit organization combating homelessness through the power of running, community support, and essential employment and housing resources. BBD is one of only eight fundraising teams that committed to raising $2,000 and ran eight hours, relay-style, in the middle of The Shops at Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia.
Read more about Back on My Feet, including their Treadmill Challenge, here.
For pictures from our Week of Service, please follow BBD on Instagram and watch our video.