US Volunteerism On Decline, Ernst & Young Atlanta Invests $1.2 Million In Volunteer Hours

Online, September 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - With the US and Atlanta volunteerism down .5% and 3.1% respectively (According to the Cooperation for National and Community Service), in one day, September 22, 2011,Ernst & Young Atlanta invested an estimated $1.2 million in volunteer hours , for the 2nd Annual EY Connect Day. "A yearly investment we are proud to make" says Atlanta Managing Partner, Susan Bell.

While the unemployment rate in Atlanta stands at 10.4% (1.4% higher than the national rate), Ernst & Young Atlanta has had a significant increase in hiring year-to-date in FY11 compared to FY10. And in these tough economic times the firm paid its employees to get out of the office and spend the day connecting through volunteer work with 24 organizations at 36 different sites in the Atlanta community. More than 800 employees, alumni and their families, joined together to improve metro Atlanta communities for the annual event.

"Volunteering not only benefits those who are receiving help, it also impacts those who are giving," says Ernst & Young Tax employee Andrea Torrico. Connect Day helps employees connect their civic passion with the power of teamwork. Ernst & Young sent a small army of yellow shirts throughout metro Atlanta to make a difference. Some of the volunteer outcomes include:

• Packaging approximately 9,600 lbs. of food, or about 6,400 meals for those in need with The Atlanta Community Food Bank
• Making and delivering 200 sack lunches for homeless individuals through the Gateway Center project
• Gardening and landscaping in one day, work that would have taken a month for the Chattahoochee Nature Center
• Making 72 blankets for homeless mothers and their children for Babe Necessities
• Painting and decorating learning spaces for students at Atlanta InTown Academy
• Coaching teens at 5 metro Atlanta High Schools for World Series of Innovation through Youth Entrepreneurs of Atlanta
• Sorting recycling and building bird houses at the Recycling centers of Sandy Springs and Johns Creek
• Painting the set for the "Battle of the Burgers" fundraiser - prosthetic equipment for the uninsured for Embraced Atlanta
• Preparing food and light landscape maintenance for 50 families with children receiving hospital treatment at several Ronald McDonald Houses
• Interacting and tutoring 60 children at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club
• Planting four Oak trees to replace ones lost during storms at Cator Wolford Gardens with the Frazier Center
• Assisting in the computer lab, cleaning and serving food at Career Works center, where homeless people find employment through the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency

"The impact across Atlanta is tremendous and very rewarding," says Bell. "Visually, as I toured various team sites, the sea of yellow shirts and smiling faces couldn't be missed."