Paul Davis of Bloomington/Peoria, IL Joins Stuff the Bus

Paul Davis team members joined other local businesses to support the annual Stuff the Bus event benefiting the non-profit Children’s Home & Aid. They collected non-perishable food, new clothes, toys, diapers and other items for children ranging form infants to six-years-old. 

Paul Davis Collects Bikes for Children

Charleston, SC Emergency Recovery Coordinator Nichole Brown and her daughter made the holidays even brighter for children by supporting the Christmas Bike Drive benefitting Toys for Tots. Partnering with the local police department, they helped gather and deliver 18 bikes to Town Hall. The initiative collected almost 300 bikes for local children.

Floor Coverings International — Demonstrating What Thanksgiving is Really About

Mike Vogt, Floor Coverings International Vice President of Emerging Operations is a volunteer with Solidarity Ministries in Africa. As part of his service to the organization he goes on yearly mission trips to the region. His first trip to the village of Lietnhom, South Sudan was in 2006. During that trip he met a 12-year old orphan named Angelo who was being cared for by the village.  Today, Angelo is the first doctor at the new Women’s Health Clinic in the village. A clinic Mike helped build. Angelo’s education was made possible by the support of Mike and others in the Ministries. Read more about this inspiring team. 

CertaPro: Steps Up for Breast Cancer Research

CertaPro Painters continued its annual drive to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. This fall, one hundred people joined together for a 45 day campaign to step it up for breast cancer. The group collectively took 32,522,095 steps, exceeding the event organizers’ step and fundraising goals. More than $11,800 was raised for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. The top 10 steppers accounted for 8,692,553 steps, nearly 27% of the total step number! Thanks and congrats to all who participated!    

First Onsite: Bringing Sweetness to Kids

First OnSite made Halloween just a little sweeter for residents of Pinnacle Living, a government housing complex located in Brooklyn, NY. First Onsite was brought in to handle a wide range of projects related to recent Hurricane Ida storm damage, including demo and rebuilding apartments, installing new boiler systems and cleaning basement crawl spaces.

The community is home to many families with children. First Onsite Project Managers Calena Hoover and Steve Wyatt wanted to do something fun for the children in the complex. Soon after sharing their idea with colleagues and subcontractors including RoMax, Nationwide Construction and Hillmann Consultants, donations of candy, coloring books and crayons, fun Halloween jewelry and even dog treats began pouring in.  The team distributed the goodies from a table outside their temporary office and also set out on foot walking the community and handing out candy and smiles to everyone they met.

 The sweet donations from the team helped brighten the day for more than 400 residents and children. Fifty lucky pups also received dog treats. So much candy was donated that even the hard working front line First Onsite crew got to enjoy some and share with their families too! The candy donations also created a great opportunity for the First Onsite team to engage with residents and answer questions residents had about the work going on in their community.

“I’ve always loved Halloween, and was excited about the opportunity to bring a smile to the faces of the wonderful residents we met at Pinnacle Living,” said Calena. “People were not used to having things given to them, so it was nice to see people enjoying it.”

   

Paul Davis: Bringing Teams Together to Support Hurricane Ida Victims

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ida’s devastating blow to communities in Louisiana and Mississippi, Scott Brooks, Jake Wilson and Amelia Podojil sprang into action. The team organized a water donation drive to provide water to residents facing unimaginable conditions as a result of this monstrous storm.  

The team set an ambitious goal was to quickly fill one truck with 1,000 cases of water. As a result of the generosity of the Paul Davis corporate team, many Paul Davis Owners, FirstService sister Brands, and the Jacksonville Community, the team doubled its goal and delivered 2,654 cases of water to storm victims. Floor Coverings International stepped up and provided 450 cases, and Mickey McHenry of Paul Davis South Atlanta generously donated 300 cases.

As a result, hundreds of people impacted by Hurricane Ida will be able to drink, cook, and bathe with clean water.  Thank you to the Paul Davis team and everyone involved who showed what it means to #FirstServeOthers! 

The team at Paul Davis are experts at quickly mitigating the impacts of fire, floods and other disasters. In March of this year, the team worked with a beer distributor to deliver more than 1,300 cases of water to Houston-area residents impacted by the snow and ice storm. 

FirstService Relief Fund Provides Peace of Mind to Employee Recovering from Emergency Surgery

CD works as a financial analyst with FirstService Residential New York. When she learned about the FirstService Relief Fund, she elected to set up automatic payroll donations so she could help colleagues facing personal financial crises. She never expected to find herself in need of a grant just a few years later.

CD recently experienced a medical emergency requiring surgery and hospitalization. We all know how quickly hospital bills can add up, and they can be financially crippling, even with good health insurance. While she was coping with her recovery, the mounting hospital bills created a lot of added stress and anxiety for her.

“I’m very grateful for the Relief Fund. Knowing that I would receive financial help to get me through a very difficult time gave me peace of mind,” said CD.  “The process of applying was very straightforward, and I would encourage anyone who finds themselves in need of a grant to carefully review the instructions and make sure you have the proper documentation when you submit your application.”

In order to receive a grant, applicants must provide proof of financial hardship and be able to produce invoices that support their claim. We have put together a handy Application Checklist & Process Overview  which we encourage everyone to review. Knowing what is required to receive a grant will help streamline the process and ensure grant recipients are paid quickly. In fact, when an applicant is able to provide all necessary documentation, grants can be approved and paid in as little as a week, which is a tremendous help to those facing financial hardship.

The FirstService Relief Fund was established to help employees and employees of franchises who are facing financial hardship immediately after a disaster or unforeseen personal hardship. Grants range from $500 to $3,000 and are paid directly to vendors such as hospitals and landlords. If you are facing personal hardship we encourage you to consider the FirstService Relief Fund. And if you are able to donate, please consider doing so. Every dollar donated goes to help our people in need, and no amount is too small. For more information, please visit www. firstservicerelief.com.

Floor Coverings International Helps Feed Needy Families

In March, 2020 Solidarity Sandy Springs was founded as a food pantry to provide assistance to families facing food insecurity during COVID shutdowns. Over time it has grown to also help provide school supplies for children. Support from the community has been inspiring, and today Solidarity Sandy Springs receives donations from schools, churches, synagogues and companies, as well as individuals. The support from the community has allowed the organization to obtain a van which is used to pick up donations throughout the community.

In August, the team at Floor Coverings International launched a donation drive to support Solidarity. The company hosted a potluck luncheon and encouraged team members to bring in donations for Solidarity Sandy Springs. The event generated more than four shopping carts filled with groceries and other essentials for families in need. 

Lee Smith of Floor Coverings International is joined by representatives from Solidarity Sandy Springs

Loading the truck with much needed food items for needy families

“Solidarity was THRILLED with our donations,” said Lee Smith, corporate bookkeeper at Floor Coverings International. “We are looking forward to hosting another donation drive to support this great organization in the future.”

For information on how you can help Solidarity Sandy Springs, please visit their website. 

Earth Day 2021: Sustainability Tips from California Closets Team Members

We’d like to thank Sara Scoville and Michael Swalberg from California Closets for sharing some of their tips for living more environmentally friendly lifestyles. Hope you enjoy this short video!      

Paul Davis: Bringing local businesses together to assist Texas snow and ice storm victims

In the wake of the February 2021 snow and ice storm that caused extensive damage and power loss in parts of Texas, Paul Davis’ Emergency Response Coordinator Scott Brooks felt like he needed to do something to help. Upon learning many residents had to boil snow for drinking water to survive, he decided to launch a water donation drive.

Scott quickly got to work making calls to Jacksonville, Florida-area news stations, churches, grocery stores and beer distributors. Before long, he was receiving water donations from companies including Winn-Dixie. He was also able to secure donated beer trucks from Champion Brands to deliver the water.

“Many of our teams were going to Texas to assist in restoration efforts. One of our serving basics is to help those in need, so organizing a water donation drive felt like the right thing to do,” said Scott.

Scott even received help from the Cajun Navy, a non-profit group of volunteers who deploy to disaster areas throughout the southern United States, to deliver the donated water.

In all, 1373 cases of water were delivered to Houston and Houston area residents.

The donation drive is just one proof point of how Scott embodies our Social Purpose. Each year he organizes a charity golf tournament to raise money and awareness for the National Fallen Firefighters Association. The 2021 event, which is in the active planning stages now, will be scheduled for the end of August or early September and will be held at Eagle Landing in Jacksonville.