AWESOME FOUNDATION GRANT AWARD WINNER
Casual For a Cause Closet T
he staff at Preference Employment Solutions are turning an empty room into an additional opportunity for giving.
An initiative to earn money for a local non-profit by paying to wear jeans on Fridays swiftly turned into what the Preference Employment Solutions’ staff calls their “Casual for a Cause” program. Realizing that many of the people who entered their doors every day were in need of extra resources for everyday needs, employees at Preference wanted a way to directly assist those they served. From obtaining required safety gear to simple transportation, there can be a number of hurdles that make starting a new job difficult. In matching potential employees with jobs, the Preference team has learned over the years that many job seekers who were qualified and able to start work right away often lacked the personal resources to do so. “We found ourselves trying to help our
BY Brandi
98
JUNE 2022
Malarkey
candidates from our own pockets,” Becky Swoboda, Project Manager at Preference Employment Solutions, said. “If somebody needed help, we’d often reach into our own personal wallets.” Through Preference’s Casual for a Cause program, employees are able to make a larger impact. “Every year, the team has the ability to contribute to the program, and since the beginning we have experienced a 100% participation rate. The company also allocates funds each year, so the impact for the Casual for a Cause program can be felt at a greater level,” Beck said. The staff at Preference have used these funds in a variety of ways to assist their job seekers including providing gas money, grocery gift cards, steel toed boots, safety goggles, and more. With the varied needs of their clients in mind, the staff have been looking for a way to expand on the help they currently offer. When a large room in their building ended up empty and unused, the idea for the “Casual for a Cause Closet” was born.
With the assistance of a $1000 gift from the Cass Clay chapter of the Awesome Foundation, who named the Casual for a Cause Closet project as one of their two March 2022 grantees, Preference staff will now remodel the previously empty room to be a small “store.” Job seekers can receive items they may need to start employment or for their family so they can focus on work rather than being consumed by worrying about the basic needs for their kids. Becky is looking forward to the room remodel. “We want to create a nice space that is not just a room with random shelves. A space where a team member can bring a candidate in a confidential way to choose some of the things they may need immediately. We want this space to embody how much we care for those we serve and the people we work with.” In addition to providing gas, grocery gift cards and money, the goal is to stock the new “closet” with a number of items like safety equipment, basic necessities