GIVE BACK TIME: LOWE'S PURPOSE IN ACTION

As we continue our Lowe’s Talent Acquisition Writers’ Series, we tackle topics about what prospective candidates are considering when seeking an employer. Candidates are looking for more besides a potential paycheck and are inquiring about our company culture. We are often asked questions like, “does your company do more than try to make a profit?” or “how does your company give back to the community?” A couple weeks ago, my colleague Catherine Harkins wrote about Lowe’s Community Relations programs, to answer some of those questions. Just recently, I got to experience one of these programs firsthand.

For those of you who don’t know Lowe’s purpose, it is a pretty simple but powerful message, "To Help People Love Where They Live." It’s a message that encompasses giving back.

Let’s take a look at the first part of this message, “To Help People”. For the longest time, I thought about volunteering and made excuses that I was too busy outside of work and family obligations to do anything. Well, I don’t have that excuse anymore. Lowe’s is giving me paid time off “To Help People” at non-profit organizations. Yes, I can take up to eight paid hours during the year to go out and volunteer. Pretty crazy, huh? Who would think a company would pay me to volunteer because they think it is important to be involved in the community and to help others?

With no excuses anymore, I decided to take advantage of Lowe’s “Give Back Time” by volunteering at the Angels and Sparrows Soup Kitchen in Huntersville, NC. This is a local non-profit established in 2007 that feeds the hungry in the North Charlotte area. I didn’t have any contacts there, so I just went to their website and wrote to them about volunteering. Immediately, one of their own volunteers wrote back and said they had an opening in the kitchen that week. Great, I was thinking I could help create some kind of awesome cuisine. The day I arrived, I met the founder, Sandy Tilley, and she said I would be assigned dishwasher duty. Maybe she already knew I was a professional dishwasher at home with a big family. I can’t seem to ever get away from those dirty dishes. Oh well, it’s all for a good cause, right?

As I started scrubbing away, I noticed a calendar on the wall that kept track of all the people that came to the kitchen daily. There was an average of over 100 people tallied each day that visited the kitchen for just the month of October alone. I found out later from Sandy that they made 46,000 meals for 2015 and are on track for 50,000 meals for 2016. That’s a lot of mouths to feed!

I peered out through the kitchen between all the pots and pans, into the dining area and noticed all kinds of people there eating, young and old, and all races. Some ate as families and some ate alone. Sandy said that any hungry person who walks through those doors will never be turned away. No one is immune to hunger. 

In the midst of the clanging of dishes, I noticed all the volunteers had their heads down with smiles on their faces, ready to serve. They operated as a quickly organized pit crew, springing to action to serve meals. This was where I started to think of the middle part of our company purpose, “Love”. Those volunteers were showing love to others who may be down on their luck. A warm meal to someone in need can bring some hope to someone’s day and let them know that there are people in this world who care.

As I was complaining to myself about getting a bad case of dishpan hands, I was humbled by what I was seeing around me. Which leads me to the last part of Lowe’s Purpose, “Where They Live.” Some of the folks who entered that kitchen to eat that day don’t have a physical and permanent home. They live from place to place, anywhere that can provide them shelter for the night. There is an old saying, “Home is where the Heart is”. Those volunteers showed heart and treated the hungry with respect and dignity. It didn’t go unnoticed either. That day, one homeless couple gave a note to Sandy and the rest of the volunteers. Sandy shared it with me, as well, since I was a Lowe’s volunteer. 

“When we came the first time, we were fed and shown so much love, and we could tell your heart came from heaven above. We were treated like fortune and fame, and all the other people was treated the same. We can’t thank you enough for all that you do, and giving us a ray of hope, too. So when you feel you are not doing enough, just look at our smiles when we’re here in times that are rough.”

After reading that card, my day in the soup kitchen was so worthwhile. Volunteering helped me realize that I am a part of something bigger. Our company “Give Back Time” was truly putting our purpose into action.

If you are interested in volunteering or donating to Angel and Sparrows, their website is Angels and Sparrows.

When he is not washing dishes, Matt Furr is an Enterprise Recruiter with Lowe’s and staffs Digital Talent for eCommerce/Omni-channel areas, Security Professionals for I.T., and both technical and marketing talent for Smart Home. His career with Lowe’s spans over four years, and includes experiences with I.T., Enterprise Analytics, Supply Chain, Finance, and Accounting to name a few. When he is not busy recruiting talent for Lowe's, he enjoys his big family, running, and watching the Carolina Panthers!

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.