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LaBella in the Community (LINC) – Spring 2023 Roundup

LaBella in the Community (LINC) is our employee-led, grassroots, committee-based service program that organizes volunteer opportunities to build and advance community partnerships. LINC was very busy this spring and we’d like to take a moment to highlight some of the activities the group planned and coordinated throughout the local communities where we live and work.

More details about the organizations that LINC partnered with can be found by clicking the links below. To learn more about what LINC has been up to, keep scrolling!

ACE Mentor Program of Rochester Graduation

Organization: ACE Mentor Program of Rochester

Event Date: March 24, 2023

Event Location: Rochester, NY

Event Description: The ACE Mentor Program of Rochester introduces high school students in the Rochester area to the wide range of career opportunities available in the architecture, construction, and engineering fields. At weekly meetings, industry professionals from leading area firms volunteer their time to work directly with and mentor student teams as they design hypothetical projects and gain hands-on experience in solving the types of design, engineering, and construction challenges industry professionals confront every day.

This graduation event at Strathallan Hotel marked the end of the 2022-2023 program. Students presented their projects in front of an audience of around 200 people consisting of friends, family, and industry professionals, and $36,000 in scholarships were awarded!

Beds for Buffalo

Organization: Beds for Buffalo presented by Service Collaborative

Event Date: April 14, 2023

Event Location: Buffalo, NY

Event Description: Beds for Buffalo, presented by the Service Collaborative, is a project that addresses a critical community need by mobilizing community volunteers to construct and assemble twin beds for children in need in the Western New York community. The project will provide 200 children with a bed this year, which will improve their self-esteem and ability to learn, and positively impact the likelihood of graduating from high school. LaBella’s team of volunteers was tasked with planing and sanding the wooden boards used to construct the beds.

Capital Region CANstruction

Organization: The Food Pantries for the Capital District

Event Date: April 17, 2023

Event Location: Albany, NY

Event Description: At Crossgates Mall, team members from LaBella’s Latham, Poughkeepsie, and Glens Falls offices illuminated food insecurity in the Capital Region with their 10-foot-by-8-foot-tall CANstruction build. This year’s Capital Region theme was “New York State of Mind” – meaning everything and anything New York. Team LaBella decided to pay homage to General Electric with its long-standing history in the Capital Region.

7.5 hours and 8,531 cans/bags/bottles/jelly packets later, the team successfully completed their fourth CANstruction build. On awards night, the team continued their winning streak and came home victorious with the Structural Ingenuity award. A big congratulations to the entire team on this outstanding accomplishment and making such an impact in our community!

Check out our time lapse video here!

Growing a School Garden at Krieger Elementary School

Organization: United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region & Poughkeepsie Farm Project

Event Date: April 20, 2023

Event Location: Poughkeepsie, NY

Event Description: Poughkeepsie Farm Project’s (PFP) mission is to cultivate local leadership in sustainable farming, food access, and education; and foster an inclusive, welcoming community for everyone. Among other activities, PFP partners with the Poughkeepsie City School District to support educators in building and teaching about school gardens.

The United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region invited volunteers to directly support PFP by building a new community garden at Krieger Elementary School in Poughkeepsie, New York. Krieger Elementary School’s garden was established in 2014. LaBella staff and community volunteers helped build a new garden closer to the school. It now sits between the cafeteria windows and playground so when students aren’t working and learning in the garden, they can still see their produce grow.

Adopt-A-Highway

Organization: New York State Department of Transportation

Event Date: April 22, 2023

Event Location: Rochester, NY

Event Description: As part of the New York State Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program, we picked up trash along the stretch of Interstate 490 between exit 27 and exit 28.

Animal Shelter Donation Drive

Organization: Guilford County Animal Shelter

Event Date: April 2023

Event Location: Greensboro, NC

Event Description: We held a month-long donation drive in the office for items that our local animal shelter was most in need of, including food, blankets, and harnesses, Employees brought in these items and other necessities to be donated and brought to the shelter at the end of the month.

Charlotte’s Adopt-A-Stream Cleanup

Organization: City of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County

Event Date: May 4, 2023

Event Location: Charlotte, NC

Event Description: As part of the City of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County’s Adopt-A-Stream program, LaBella has taken ownership of a half-mile segment of the Dairy Branch Stream just off Ideal Way to Magnolia Avenue in Charlotte, North Carolina. Twice a year, we remove litter to clean the stream. We also test the water, observe stream quality, and report back to the City and the County on our observations.

Mayfield Heights Spring Beautification Day

Organization: City of Mayfield Heights

Event Date: May 6, 2023

Event Location: Mayfield Heights, OH

Event Description: We picked up trash throughout the city.

The United Way Day of Caring

Organization: United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes

Event Date: May 11, 2023

Event Location: Rochester, NY

Event Description: The United Way Day of Caring is a day across Rochester, New York, where community members give back by helping local organizations. The Thomas R. Frey Trail at El Camino is a 2.25-mile multipurpose pedestrian greenway adapted from an old railroad line with a children’s playground at its heart. As part of this year’s United Way Day of Caring, a team from LaBella volunteered to assist with cleaning up winter debris, weeding, planting, and mulching along the Thomas R. Frey trail and within the gardens at the playground in the Conkey Corner Park.

ACE Mentorship Program

Organization: ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland

Event Date: Total program ran from November 1, 2022 to May 11, 2023

Event Location: Cleveland, OH

Event Description: We participated in a mentorship program designed to engage inner city school children at Tech East High School who have an interest in architecture, construction, and/or engineering.