December 19, 2011

WestGlen Spreads Goodwill Through Charity Work: Firm Joins With New York Cares and The Food Bank for New York City as Part Of Its Winter Wishes Program to Collect Food and Kids' Gifts for Disadvantaged

Taking action against serious social issues facing the Big Apple since the late 1980s, New York Cares partners with hundreds of homeless shelters, community centers and other deserving nonprofit organizations to provide holiday gifts for disadvantaged children, teens and families, many of whom would not otherwise receive gifts during the holidays. Staff members at WestGlen's New York headquarters participated in the program, bringing in presents and wrapping them, before sending them off to the individual children who requested the gifts. All of the gifts this year are going to children at the Queens branch of Safe Horizon, a New York victim assistance program. They provide services, support and advocacy for victims of child abuse, domestic violence, child labor and human trafficking, as well as homeless children, families of homicide victims, and other families facing crisis. New York Cares sent WestGlen one letter for each member of its staff who participated in the program. The letters are basically "Dear Santa" letters written by the individual children requesting what they would like for Christmas (all requests are under $40 — toys, an item of clothing, etc). Separate to the Winter Wishes Program, WestGlen staff also donated food to support The Food Bank for New York City, which provides meals to 400,000 New York City residents at risk of hunger daily. A bin was placed in its office for staff to donate food. "We absolutely love participating in charity projects with organizations such as New York Cares and the Food Bank for New York City around the holidays," said Rebecca Woolf, PSA Project Manager at WestGlen. "This is our second year in a row doing Winter Wishes and it's now something that we at WestGlen look forward to all year. It's a great way for us to all get together and do something we feel good about."

"I'm proud of our staff for getting into the spirit of the season and embracing these two charities," said Annette Minkalis, WestGlen Executive Vice President. "It's great team building and there's nothing like the feeling that comes from helping others."