Dozens of Comcast employees spent last Saturday rolling up their sleeves to give the city’s LGBT health facility a facelift.
Mazzoni Center was flooded by 71 volunteers April 21 who were participating in the annual Comcast Cares Day, a nationwide initiative that takes Comcast employees into the community for service projects.
The Mazzoni volunteers were organized by Out at Comcast, the company’s local LGBT employee affinity group, which launched at the beginning of the year, and Out at NBC/Universal.
Derek Tarcza, lead for Out at Comcast, said Mazzoni seemed like a natural fit for the day of service.
“I’ve been at the organization before and seen all the wonderful things they do, so I decided to give them a call to see if they’d be interested and they definitely were,” Tarcza said.
The employees who volunteered brought along spouses, children and friends, who all worked together on an array of beautification and improvement efforts.
Comcast procured a number of Netbook computers for Mazzoni and the volunteers helped install a new computer lab, which can be used by clients searching for information or jobs.
Volunteers also put in new hardwood flooring — the materials for which were donated by an associate of a Comcast employee — painted walls, installed shelving and blinds, did general cleaning and assembled information packets for Mazzoni clients, among several other tasks.
“We’re very grateful to the team at Comcast for generously sharing their time and resources with Mazzoni Center as part of their citywide day of service, which not only helped us make significant physical improvements to two of our locations, but also provided an opportunity to share our passion and some details of our everyday work with their staff,” said Mazzoni Center executive director Nurit Shein. “Efforts like this one are a great reminder of the power of partnerships, and an important means of reinforcing the ties between a corporation such as Comcast, their employees and the communities they call home.”
Tarcza said the experience was just as valuable for the volunteers as it was for Mazzoni.
“I think they were able to gain a sense of pride in the community and a sense of pride in helping one another and working together,” he said. “It was heartwarming to see everyone who came out to support this cause and this organization and to be so dedicated in helping to make a change within the community.”
Tarcza, who has been with Comcast for five years, said that in its first year he anticipates Out at Comcast, which is comprised of a mix of both LGBT and ally employees, to extend its visibility and influence throughout the entire Comcast realm.
“One of the main goals this year is impact,” he said. “We want to have an impact not just internally — in developing other leaders and driving awareness of LGBT issues in the workplace — but we also want to come together with other [Employee Resource Groups] and other areas of the company.”