Booz Allen Continues a Legacy of Community Service Partnering with So Others Might Eat
Hundreds of volunteers from the firm have supported those impacted by hunger and poverty in Washington, D.C.
Twice a month, at dawn, a group of volunteers from Booz Allen Hamilton walk past a queue of men, women, and children who stand in the half-dark outside a worn building in Washington, D.C. They open the heavy door to a spacious dining room, filled with long tables set with utensils and cups and surrounded by plastic chairs.
This is the facility that houses the non-profit, So Others Might Eat (SOME), which provides meals and much more to the poor, homeless, and anyone else in the local community struggling to meet their basic needs.
The Booz Allen volunteers—which usually include senior associate Brooke Crouter or senior consultant Jessica Stansfield—enter a brightly lit kitchen and quickly get to work scrambling 900 eggs, frying 75 pounds of sausage, and stirring large pots of grits. Soon, the people lined up outdoors make their way inside. The dining room fills with conversation and laughter as each person collects a breakfast plate and is greeted by SOME staff.
For volunteers like Stansfield, cooking meals here has become second nature. “SOME is a remarkable organization, committed to helping members of the community and effective in carrying out its mission. Everyone is welcome to eat. Nobody is turned away.”
In 2007, SOME served over 248,000 meals; provided more than 10,500 medical and dental care visits; and gave almost 14,000 homeless individuals free clothing and access to showers. The organization also offers longer-term assistance, such as affordable housing, job training, and addiction treatment. But for the hundreds of Booz Allen staff members who have contributed to SOME over the years, the story is about helping the members of their community.
“The commitment of the Booz Allen staff to SOME is ongoing and never wavers,” says senior consultant Eileen Miller. “Many years ago, that commitment rose to the level in which the firm wanted to support their efforts. Brooke and Jessica are our current monthly coordinators, but there were coordinators at the firm before them, and before them. Supporting SOME is an important effort, entirely driven by volunteers.
“Working with the staff at SOME is like being able to see through a looking glass into the heart of the organization,” Miller continues. “They are incredible people who are passionate about the clients they serve. SOME does so much more than serve meals.”
No one is sure when Booz Allen volunteers started working with the organization, but the firm’s first donation was recorded in 1992. Crouter started volunteering in 1995. “The folks who visit SOME often need help for many different reasons. But it’s a happy place in the morning, and folks are glad to be getting a good breakfast.
“We get great support from the firm to buy the meals,” she adds. “But the monthly, yearly, and long-term involvement comes from our co-workers who are motivated to donate their time and energy to give a direct benefit to their community. I think the fact that we have been able to give back just a little for such a long time is a really wonderful thing.”
A Few Hours of Effort Provides Meals for Those in Need
Booz Allen volunteers prepare SOME’s breakfasts on the third and fourth Fridays of each month, and the food is paid for by the firm. Booz Allen provides $14,000 in annual funding to SOME, and it is also one of the organizations that receives nonperishable food from the firm’s fall food drive.
In addition to cooking meals, Booz Allen volunteers support SOME with other efforts, such as a wine-tasting event that was held in 2008 and a shoebox drive, often held during the holiday season. Crouter says, “In 2008, many of us on Acquisition Team collected hats, scarves, gloves, toiletries, and socks—and a toy if the box is for a child—and wrapped them in 45 shoeboxes, which were delivered to the homeless.”
Stansfield got involved with SOME two years ago when her brother Kevin, a former Booz Allen employee, encouraged her. She is the coordinator of the “fourth Friday” group. “Each month, I order fruit and the food that we cook and recruit volunteers for the day,” she says.
“Cooking breakfast takes about two hours, from 6:15 to 8:15am. Other organizations and volunteer groups serve the food and clean up after the meal. Depending on the day, we cook 250 to 600 plates that are served during two seatings.”
Crouter has been “third Friday” coordinator for almost 9 years. “It’s a good way to work as a group,” she says. “We talk, kid around, and do something useful that makes our personal problems seem minor. I like all the people doing the work and I like to cook, so it’s a good fit. My husband started volunteering when he worked at Booz Allen, and he continues to go with me.”
Volunteering at SOME is so popular, Crouter and Stansfield welcome a new volunteer almost every month. Stansfield says, “Volunteering at SOME is a very rewarding experience. Any time a person who has just finished a meal pops his or her head in the kitchen and says thank you or ‘you guys cook some good eggs,’ it’s always a memorable event. It makes an impression on me each and every time, and hits home that we are helping people by providing them with a much-needed meal.”
In 2008, Stansfield’s team was joined by some welcome guests on the day after Thanksgiving, when several SOME alumni, including the former Booz Allen coordinator and other volunteers who had moved from the area, returned to D.C. for family holidays and showed up at SOME in the early morning to volunteer again. “It was a fun reunion,” Stansfield says, “and it showed how much of an impact working at SOME has had on the regular volunteers.”
“I realize on a daily basis how lucky I am to have a great place to work, good colleagues, and a good life,” Crouter says. “So much needs to be done on a person-by-person level to change the world, and I hope that my little bit makes it better for someone else. Many people need help, and I’m really glad I can contribute. I find that it adds a dimension to my compassion and humanity to be involved in this.”
story posted January 13, 2009
