Foster Love - Together We Rise hosted a two-day bike build volunteer event for team building in Orange County, at the TWR HQ in Brea, CA with UPS‘s Southern California Human Resource District. This is the second year in a row that the group has held their event at the Foster Love - Together We Rise Orange County headquarters.

You might be wondering, why have a meeting outside of your workspace. JD Baker, the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Southern California Districts explains that this was more than a meeting.

Baker says, “The reason why we are here today is because we are having a meeting. But this is also an opportunity to volunteer. It gives our people an opportunity to see what we do in the community. It gives us a chance to give back to the communities where we work and serve. We wanted to really give back to the community. There was a big need for this organization, for the foster kids, we just wanted to give them hope.”

Over the course of two days, UPS held their kick-off team building meetings and built 50 bikes for foster children in the community. Their team worked very well together, especially during the bike build. Teams that finished first helped those teams that were behind, a true testament to UPS’s corporate culture.

Morgan Price, The Human Resources Manager for Southern California District UPS shared his views on the bike build volunteer event. “When I put together a bike, I go back to my childhood and think about when I was riding up and down the street. The freedom and the joy you feel when you can get on that bike and go. So I thought about that with our program today. These kids who are in foster care, getting these bikes as gifts. They will be able to feel that same feeling I felt. It really connected with me and I thought that would be a great way to give back to the community.”

We asked Price if he had any closing thoughts on the event and he said, “when we’ve come here, now our second time as a group. We just want to thank them (Foster Love - Together We Rise) for how welcome they make us feel. It feels like we are a part of the team. We come here like we belong here not that we are taking up space and that just lends to the whole overall feel of what is going on here. We know they care about the community, we know they care about these kids. And when we come in, we know they care about us as people who give back to the community, we are just grateful.”

The feeling is mutual, we are always thankful to our partners and volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about our Bike Build volunteer eventsprogram click here.