On a Saturday in mid November, about 75 DOT team members gathered to learn about and serve at The Orange County Rescue Mission. For the past few years The DOT has been donating to OC Rescue Mission as part of our year end giving campaign. They are located just 10 minutes from our Irvine office, and we appreciate that they are helping vulnerable people in our community. This year, we were privileged to go behind the scenes and see how the organization is working to care for families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness and unemployment in Orange County.
The day started with a kick off meeting and a guided tour of the entire property, Village of Hope. Many of our staff have seen the village from outside, or heard of the work done by the Rescue Mission, but have never seen their daily operations. The OC Rescue Mission staff was gracious enough to walk us through all the different areas of the village and answer our questions. It was so cool to not only learn what they do but why they do it. There is great thought and attention put into every space, system and program.
After the tour, it was time to get to work! The staff was split up into different serve groups. There was a team doing food prep in the kitchen and a team serving food in the Restoration Cafe. Another team was assigned to the warehouse where they stocked donations received by many of the DOT employees who couldn’t make the serve day. Other volunteers were busy cleaning and organizing the clothing room and kids area. Yet another group was stuffing backpacks for the OC Rescue Missions annual Turkey Trot fundraiser.
It was a great day. Our team was honored to be able to contribute to such a great cause. It was also a great team bonding experience, as those serving side by side got to know each other differently than they typically do at work.
A big “Thank You” to the OC Rescue Mission for letting us step into your world for just a bit, and an even bigger “Thank You” for all the work you do to serve our community.
The DOT Bridge Program
This year we started the Bridge Program at The DOT which is dedicated to encouraging our employees to be more involved in the community. We do this by donating money to organizations where our employees serve. The DOT has a heart to be more connected to the community as a corporation but also as individuals. You can learn more about that here.