C3M PROVIDES VOLUNTEER SERVICES TO NORTHERN VIRGINIA FAMILY SERVICE

Earlier this month, C3M Power Systems team members gathered at the SERVE Campus of Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS) to provide much-needed updates to the electrical power and systems in NVFS’s homeless shelter, administration building, and food warehouse.

NVFS is a non-profit which, for nearly 100 years, has offered a wide range of services to more than 40,000 people across Northern Virginia every day – including shelter, food, workforce development, mental health, and financial assistance.

The C3M team’s work for NVFS included removing a steamer from the shelter’s kitchen, placing a junction box on an electric feeder, rewiring lights, relocating push buttons, and updating outdoor canopy lighting to LEDs.

“We have been itching to get out there and give back to the community,” said Donny Schwier, a general superintendent at C3M. “Our team determined what work was safe to perform given the current climate, and then dove right in.”

With COVID-19 still widespread across the region, providing volunteer support has been difficult to plan. Large-scale charity events throughout the region have been cancelled, and volunteer opportunities are becoming increasingly complex to manage as social distancing guidelines limit what support can be provided.

The volunteer support provided to the NVFS was planned with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in mind. Prior to the arrival of the C3M team, NVFS staff members cleaned all of the shelter’s touch points. Once the C3M team arrived, they coordinated with NVFS to ensure that social distancing guidelines remained in place throughout the duration of the work.

“The C3M team was very professional and they did great work while they were here,” said Shirley Hayden, business operations supervisor at NVFS. “They are real experts. I would love for them to come back in the future!”

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the team's desire to give back and support local communities through volunteering efforts remains alive and burning bright at C3M.