Financial Wizards And Poverty Volunteers

Charles Schwab Corporation calls a company-wide volunteer week every year. This year, one Schwab group called us. They trotted and sweated in the Dining Room, serving trays, sorted clothing at the Clothing Program, coached job seekers in the Tenderloin Tech Lab, and brought extra meal delivery help to our neighbors around the corner. They made it easier for one guest to wait in line; talking to people in Charles Schwab tee shirts distracted him from his fears.

Everyone knows that Charles Schwab Corporation helps people save, invest and manage their money and helps companies with retirement and stock plans. Individual employees also donate their time and talents throughout the year, in addition to volunteer week. Their focus is nonprofits that lift people out of poverty and improve the financial well-being of low-income people. Their specialty is financial literacy.

St. Anthony Foundation’s clothing supply is still moving straight through from donation to distribution. Charles Schwab employees organize company-wide food and clothing drives. Faces in the group lit up when we talked about the need for clothing. Our faces lit up, too, when we realized we’d struck a chord.

Then over the weekend I got this from a participant. “Hi, Alina. Thanks again for letting us join your community last week. It was an awesome experience. I’ll check into the idea of a clothing drive.” Imagine: financial wizards who focus on people in poverty and specialize in clothing drives.