The VGM Journey is a special guided tour given to visitors who enter VGM Group’s headquarters. A guide takes the visitors throughout the building, providing insights into VGM’s history and the work it does every day. One of the stops along the way is the Charity Wall.
During this stop, visitors have a chance to write their name on stickers, place it underneath one of the four charities displayed on the wall, and VGM will donate $25 to that charity in the person’s name.
On Valentine’s Day, VGM announced their 2024 Be the Change partner, Habitat for Humanity, where VGM donated $45,000 and made a commitment of 3,000 volunteer hours. It was announced during this event that VGM employee owners would have the chance to nominate a charity for a chance to be featured on the Charity Wall. Nominations took place in May, and from those nominations, four new charities were selected.
“It was wonderful to see the number of submissions we received from employee owners,” said Christa Miehe, president of corporate communications and events and member of the VGM Community Giving Committee. “Having so many nominations shows how passionate our employee owners are about making a difference in our communities.”
The four chosen organizations for the VGM Charity wall are:
Alive & Running – Formed in 2010, this nonprofit organization is completely volunteer-led and uses all funds to raise awareness of suicide prevention. The organization uses the money to hold free trainings, believing education is key to preventing suicide. In addition to suicide prevention work, Alive & Running Iowa also hosts two grief support groups in Waverly and Waterloo for those who have experienced a loss due to suicide.
Kadens Kloset – Kadens Kloset supplies material items and necessities for families, sustains ongoing services for foster and adoptive families and equips people to engage in caring for children and families in need. Foster and adoptive families, children, teens, expectant mothers, and local families in need are then invited to “shop” the closet, free of charge.
Retrieving Freedom – Retrieving Freedom, Inc. is a nonprofit organization passionately committed to enhancing the lives of veterans and children with autism through their specialized service dog training program. The training program isn’t designed to train each dog to follow a certain program. Instead, dogs are trained to meet the needs of their specific client. The dogs go through more than two years of training to meet strict standards for successful placement.
House of Hope –House of Hope provides single-mother families and women who age out of foster care with individualized support and transitional housing to achieve secure families, independence, and permanent homes. Their vision is to end the cycle of homelessness in the Cedar Valley with respect, empowerment, stewardship, and accountability as core values.
“VGM is always looking to give back to our communities in any way we can,” said Jeremy Stolz, CEO of VGM Group. “The Charity Wall holds a prominent place in the VGM Journey. Making a Difference is one of our core values. And we want those who visit to get a firsthand experience of how we do it.”
Work to create graphics for the new charities is already underway and is anticipated to be installed as part of the VGM Journey in October.
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