Pitching in Volunteers spruce up MHY Services
MARS — Facilities at MHY Family Services are looking brighter after a group of health care professionals volunteered a morning sprucing up rooms.
Around 40 employees from Fresenius, a health-care company specializing in kidney care products and services, gathered Thursday morning at MHY to paint the organization's dining hall and bedrooms in one of its residence halls.
An additional 38 volunteers from the company are also volunteering at other projects around the area, cleaning elderly individuals' apartments at Sunbury Fields in Butler and assembling medical bags for VOICe (Victim Outreach Intervention Center).
The event is a part of a community outreach initiative by Fresenius to help extend the company's engagement and care of the community.
“Part of our mission is to deliver the best care, and we want to extend that out into our community,” said Mark Sciorilli, Fresenius regional vice president. “We're just giving back ... We're doing different community events. We reached out to the United Way (Butler office) looking for ways we could help out and they funneled us here.”
The employees split into groups and, after loading up with supplies, began taping up and painting their respective areas.
Amy Smith, MHY director of development, said the volunteers' help is appreciated and will go a long way to improving the experience of the children in their programs.
“We are a trauma-informed environment so we take great pride in making sure our facilities are a warm, comfortable and safe environment for our kids, and the cafeteria is a well used space,” she said. “I mean this is a space where children eat three meals a day. We come in here for volunteer activities so it's gotten a lot of use, so having a fresh coat of paint and a more welcome, cheerful atmosphere is beneficial for our kids.”
The paint job also improved bedrooms that are a part of MHY's short- term program where children age 9 to 18 years stay for 28 days.
“It feels good. It feels welcoming, like their own bedroom, their own home,” Smith said.
Making a match
The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Butler office, matched the company with the nonprofit.
“This was really a neat group,” said John Furman, Butler United Way volunteer and employment coordinator. “These guys contacted me several weeks ago and said they had a group of about 90, and I said 'Oh my, OK, let me see what I can do.'”
Furman called MHY volunteer coordinator Vanessa Strickland, and the two of them worked out a plan.
For over a year, Furman has worked on a program at the Butler United Way office to better organize community resources and efficiently connect volunteers and organizations that could use the help.
“I think it's really the heart of what we're about, my goal with this is to make Butler County a model for the country and have everything coordinated so our resources are being used for what's needed in the moment,” he said. “The program started in March of '17, and we've had over 2,000 hours of volunteer time.”
For anyone interested in volunteering, Furman recommended visiting www.butlerunitedway.org or emailing volunteer@butlerunitedway.org.
MHY looking forward
Smith says the MHY plans to add new programs to better serve its students and the community, and can use all the help it can get.
“We really need some extra helping hands,” Smith said. “In the next two years, we are looking at reopening a treatment program, and we are renovating that space.
“And we are looking to open a family center that would be a place where families can come in and have a place they can stay the night if they're coming from a distance or if they have ongoing therapy for their child. It's a place they can get some resource information, support from a therapist.”
Those interested in volunteering can connect with MHY at mhyfamilyservices.org and click the “volunteer” tab.
