This past summer AVANT team members, led by our own Erin Kay, took part in a community outreach project where we volunteered with The House of the Good Shepherd here in Chicago. As building meaningful connections with our greater community is one of our core values at AVANT, we were happy that Erin took the initiative to find new ways and new organizations for us to volunteer with during the holidays.
AVANT has made a donation of toys to an organization called New Moms of Chicago in support of its “Santa’s Village” Christmas event on the 12th of December. The participants of the Santa’s Village event used the toys in a gift exchange where moms were able to choose gifts to give their children, and even gifts that the children can choose to give their mothers. The goal of the gift exchange was to help the mothers and children connect and bond over the holiday season.
New Moms, is a charity focused on helping young moms between the ages of 13 and 24, and their children, overcome poverty and homelessness. New Moms employees and volunteers help these families in need by educating them on proper childcare in order to break cycles of abuse and neglect, and foster stronger, healthier relationships between mothers and children.
The AVANT team was also onsite at the event helping with the initial organization and participating in fun activities with the moms, like making candles at Bright Endeavors, the professional development program for New Moms, to which all proceeds from candle sales are donated.
Anyone reading this can help by donating gifts as well as volunteering their time by contacting New Moms of Chicago or emailing Erin at [email protected].
We’re so happy that we’re able to give back to our community by connecting with incredible charities like New Moms and are proud of our team for taking the initiative to help this holiday season.