{"id":3911,"date":"2018-07-10T14:29:57","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T18:29:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/54.235.7.55\/?post_type=news-items&#038;p=3911"},"modified":"2022-11-05T14:30:39","modified_gmt":"2022-11-05T18:30:39","slug":"mercedes-benz-financial-services-brightens-sos-office","status":"publish","type":"news-items","link":"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/mercedes-benz-financial-services-brightens-sos-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Brightens SOS Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"modal-ready\"><p><strong>Volunteers donate time, talents and more to create a warm environment for both clients and staff<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brand-new lockers. Freshly planted flowers. Sky-blue paint for the new bike shed. Toys galore for the play room.<\/p>\n<p>These were but a few of the generous donations the South Oakland Shelter received from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services as part of its \u201cWeek of Caring\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n<p>But the most precious gift of all was the 20 company employees who spent the day at the shelter\u2019s Lathrup Village office to bring it all together.<\/p>\n<p>They arrived bright and early June 19, ready and eager to work. And it was hard work \u2013 especially for the trio tackling the task of assembling lockers for shelter clients.<\/p>\n<p>One of the volunteers \u2013 Data Scientist Nikhar Shah, said employees were presented with many different options and he and others chose SOS as a catalyst to make a difference in the community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix hours of our day can make change in people\u2019s lives so that\u2019s a great thing Mercedes-Benz lets us do,\u201d Shah said. \u201cIt\u2019s always a pleasure \u2026 we do it every year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His colleague, IT manager Usha Kompalli, agreed, saying: \u201cIt has been very humbling and very satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Outside, the back lot was abuzz with activity. Several men were hard at work, applying fresh paint to the faded parking lines while Jackie Foster happily tended to the newly planted garden.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do this at home so I feel right at home,\u201d said Foster, who works in accounting. \u201cI love it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And the volunteer day itself? Well, she loves that, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get to work with different people in the company and it gets us out (in the community),\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a social thing for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nearby, Paul Brooks was high up on a ladder, painting the shelter\u2019s brand-new bike shed. It was a big job and one Brooks took over from a fellow employee who needed a break.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all team players here,\u201d said Brooks, who works in IT governance. \u201cWe all have a shared purpose of getting the right thing done in the best way possible.\u00a0 And, guess what? We stick to it and we watch out for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomething like this is not a chore, it\u2019s a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And, for that, SOS is truly grateful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVolunteer days like this mean the world to SOS and its clients,\u201d said Leila Vallerino, Development Associate of Community Engagement at SOS.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a huge morale booster for people facing housing challenges or homelessness. The generosity of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and its employees helps create a welcoming environment that sends a powerful message to our clients: \u201cYou matter, your life is valued, and you are welcome here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To see the full extent of the projects completed, visit our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/SOShelter\/photos\/?tab=album&amp;album_id=10156261619291826\">Facebook Album<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Want to volunteer with SOS?\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/southoaklandshelter.org\/how-to-help\/volunteer-opportunities\/\">Click this link to learn more<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":3912,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news_categories":[123],"class_list":["post-3911","news-items","type-news-items","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_categories-donations"],"acf":{"photo_gallery":{"gallery":[[]]}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Brightens SOS Office - Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lighthousemi.org\/news-items\/mercedes-benz-financial-services-brightens-sos-office\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Brightens SOS Office - Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Volunteers donate time, talents and more to create a warm environment for both clients and staff Brand-new lockers. 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