Over a hundred employees from Deloitte’s Pittsburgh office spent Friday helping various veterans organizations during the firm’s annual “Day of Impact” that takes place the first Friday in June.
Auditors, tax consultants, lawyers and the managing partner of the Pittsburgh office turned out in bright blue shirts that read, “Making an Impact Every Day” and were seen painting, organizing, cleaning and sprucing up Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, food and job placement assistance to local veterans, during the firm’s annual day of service to help local community organizations.
This was Deloitte’s 15th annual day of service where hundreds of employees from one of the largest tax and professional services firm take a day away from the office to assist local nonprofits and other community organizations.
“One thing that is different is the level of interest and passion. Everybody knows a veteran and that connective tissue makes it personal,” said Dmitri Shiry, managing partner of Deloitte’s Pittsburgh office about the large number of employees that volunteered to assist local veterans organizations this year. Shiry added that Deloitte is committed to hiring more veterans and identified three ‘key pillars” in working with veterans; “Education, Employment and Health and Recovery.”
According to the White House, Deloitte has committed to hiring more veterans as well as assisting in their transition from military to civilian life.
“We intend to meet this objective by continuing to sponsor events and programs such as the Warrior Games and the 100,000 Jobs Mission, by increasing the number of transition assistance workshops and Deloitte Day Open Houses, and through a new education series at Deloitte University, The Leadership Center, focused on assessment, mentoring, networking, personal branding, and career coaching.”
In addition to the day of painting and organizing at Veterans Place, other Deloitte employees participated in a free job skills workshop where they assisted veterans with their resumes, cover letters, job searches and interviewing techniques. In all, over 300 workers, half of the firm’s Pittsburgh office, turned out for its “Day of Impact” according to Shiry.
Bridgett Bohonek a Deloitte auditor said, “Veterans deserve our help and support, as well as help in getting jobs,” as she was painting the walls of one of the townhouses where veterans reside.
“My brother is a vet. I wanted to make sure I was put on a veterans project,” said Adri Greenblatt who works in the firm’s tax department, expressing the same sentiment as most of her coworkers who specifically requested to work on a project involving veterans this year.
Other Deloitte employees spent Friday cleaning and painting community centers, packing and cleaning books at local libraries and organizing gift boxes for children in homeless shelters.
