Sixty Weidner Apartment Homes employees volunteered to fix up Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands-Riverside on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Weidner chose the Club’s Dennis Hansberger Clubhouse in Redlands for their annual Weidner Cares volunteer event. Weidner, which is based in Kirkland, Washington, has a Weidner Cares event in each of its regions. The company has six apartment communities in the Inland Empire.
“Giving back to communities through volunteer work is very important to Weidner and is in keeping with its mission, vision and values,” said Ilan Kantor, vice president of operations. “Often, important projects get delayed or shelved because of limited time and/or resources. What we are able to accomplish in a day often has a lifetime impact on the people and organizations we work with. Weidner associates get great satisfaction out of lending a hand and making a difference.”
Weidner employees painted the backpack cubby holes inside of the Club, replaced baseboards, replaced carpeting with vinyl and epoxy flooring, re-striped the parking lot, painted garden boxes, railing and fences, pressure washed the outside of the Club, installed soap dispensers, cleaned bathrooms, put wood shavings on outside landscaping, planted flowers, and fixed doorways – among other tasks.
“It’s a huge team building day for us,” said Weidner communications specialist Casey Robertson. “It sparks that spirit of volunteerism in our associates. There have been many times where our employees will either want to come back and volunteer, or they’ll go volunteer on their own.”
She said Weidner Cares started after employees wrote on surveys that they wanted to give back to the community.
Kantor said that seeing how Weidner Cares “impacts people’s lives is huge for us.”
“We’re grateful that Weidner chose our clubhouse for such a big project, and how much they were able to get done,” said Club senior vice president Mark Davis. “Having an environment where our kids can learn, grow and be safe is invaluable to our community.”
When kids came to the Clubhouse the next day, they were excited to see the backpack cubbies, which were painted the colors of the rainbow.