Howard Zinn, an American historian, said, “small acts, when multiplied by thousands of people, can transform this world” and he was right. At Ascent, one of our core values is engagement, and we believe in giving back to the communities that surround us through volunteering.

Volunteering allows us to make a positive social impact while getting to know our clients and candidates on a deeper level. Over the years, we’ve taken part in hundreds of volunteering events, some of which included spending time cleaning up the Oakland, California Zoo, taking part in the Toys for Tots philanthropy, and serving Thanksgiving dinners at the Teli Hi community center in San Francisco, California. More recently, Ascent has focused on support of The Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano, and collaborating with one of our clients, Mercy Housing. 

The Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano collects and distributes food directly to low-income families and individuals at community sites and makes food available to other nonprofit organizations serving children, the needy, and ill. Their mission is to lead the fight in ending hunger in partnership with their communities and neighbors. 

At our Concord, California headquarters, we volunteer at The Food Bank of Contra Costa County & Solano multiple times a year helping them quickly and efficiently get food to people in need. We assist in cleaning produce, repackaging and sorting bulk food items, assisting the warehouse with transportation of goods, and various other activities. We pride ourselves on working with this organization because we believe in their mission and volunteering with them allows us to support our local communities while getting a breath of fresh air outside the normal office environment. 

Mercy Housing is a national non-profit organization that transforms lives through providing affordable low-income housing. They strive to create a more humane world where poverty is alleviated and communities are healthy so that tenants can live up to their potential. Their residents include over 40,000 families and individuals in roughly 300 communities across our nation. Mercy Housing isn’t just any client of ours though, they’re an organization with an impactful mission that we’re passionate about.

Our Denver, Colorado office has supported Mercy housing by cooking breakfasts and providing emotional support to tenants. In the coming weeks, they plan on hosting an after-school event for Mercy’s family occupants. Casey Nowicki, our Denver Recruiting Coordinator who plans volunteer events, states that “we’ve gotten tenants who aren’t usually social to come out, tell us their stories, and bond with us over delicious pancakes. We hope our next event will be even more impactful.”

At Ascent, we work to be great service providers to our clients and candidates as well as being good human beings. Changing lives by providing emotional support and basic necessities to those in need is just one example of that. We’ve found that sometimes it’s the simple things that can make the biggest difference in the lives of others and what’s special about our community involvement is that we get to build strong connections with our coworkers and network, all while making a positive social impact on the lives of individuals that live in the communities that surround us.