If you thought a liquor company and a hospital had nothing in common, think again.
In a time of collective belt-tightening, nonprofit organizations facing budget cuts and lesser donations have found relief from helping hands in the corporate world.
Pernod Ricard USA in Purchase, a supplier of wine and spirits like Absolut Vodka and Jameson, has partnered with several nonprofits in the county.
“We”™ve always been involved in the community sponsoring various events and we”™ve worked a lot with the Food Bank for Westchester and the Business Council (of Westchester) in past years,” said Marissa Frisina, a spokeswoman for Pernod Ricard. “And this year, it just struck us to really get our hands dirty in the community and help people.”
The company”™s first volunteer program involved a cleanup of the Rockefeller Estate Preserve Park in Pleasantville, which Frisina said fell into thankful hands because a significant percent of the in-house staff had been laid off.
Pernod Ricard employees just concluded a volunteer effort at Sarah Neuman Center for Healthcare and Rehabilitation in partnership with the United Way of Westchester and Putnam.
“We purchased small, little gifts through United Way and put them together in little packages for a raffle,” Frisina said. “We spent the afternoon there engaging with the seniors and everyone really enjoyed themselves.”
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For Pernod Ricard, volunteering meant getting executives out into the community.
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For Aquarion Water Co. in Bridgeport, Conn., it was about inviting the community in ”“ literally.
The company just rearranged office space on Main Street in Bridgeport to make room for Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut, which had faced rent increases and imminent program cuts.
“I have long admired and supported JA”™s work with young people,” said Charles Firlotte, president and CEO of Aquarion, in a statement. “We”™ve participated in and sponsored many JA activities over the years; this arrangement was simply an extension of that support. And I”™m especially gratified to know JA is able to continue its excellent work, which benefits not only the students, but the business world by preparing our next generation for the future.”
Like Aquarion, other corporations have noted the importance of maintaining and forging relationships with community groups.
Chicago-based Integrated Development Group L.L.C., the developer of The Club at Briarcliff Manor, a $350 million continuing care retirement community that will open in 2013, recently donated $95,000 to the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville.
“We were looking to identify local service providers that we could partner with in this period prior to opening our community for either prospects or existing depositors,” said Matthew Phillips, CEO of Integrated Development Group.
Phillips said the company looked at arts, culture and health care providers locally and “right away, Jacob Burns popped up.”
Though the initial grant is funding a film series at Jacob Burns, Phillips said The Club at Briarcliff Manor will house a small theater space for in-house film screenings and visiting professors when it opens.
“We”™re trying to create a win-win situation,” Phillips said. “We wanted something that works for us as well as the nonprofit.” The 59-acre Club at Briarcliff Manor will house some 500 residents in total; there will be 325 independent-living units.
Developers just broke ground on the first phase of construction; Phillips said the next major leg of construction is an onsite water system, which is up for approval.
