June 12, 2008

By Rick Winterson

Last Saturday was Serve-A-Thon Day.  A thousand City Year volunteers made South Boston shine.  To cap it off, Serve-A-Thon sponsor Omnicom Group made a $50,000 corporate donation to the Old Colony Task Force.

It was a busy, productive, and heartwarming day last Saturday in South Boston – and not just because of the heat.  It was Serve-A-Thon Day.  One of the key sponsors of this event was the Omnicom Group, a worldwide media company.

The Serve-A-Thon event goes back 20 years.  Churches, corporations, and volunteer groups such as City Year join together to clean up and improve Boston’s neighborhoods.  They’ve brought new life to parks, schools, playgrounds, developments, and vacant lots.

This year, City Year Boston organized several thousand volunteers, who went to sites in Brighton/Allston, Roslindale, Dorchester, and South Boston.  Last Saturday, June 7, approximately 1,000 volunteers came to South Boston and worked in the heat from 9 until 4 at Old Colony, West Broadway, Condon, Gavin, and St. Peter’s.  The work they accomplished was nothing short of amazing.

City Year, the Serve-A-Thon organizer, brings young people together from all backgrounds and neighborhoods.  They contribute a year of full-time service, learning skills that will literally allow them “to change the world”.  City Year is affiliated with AmeriCorps.

In the Old Colony Family Housing Development, the volunteers completely repainted the ground level exteriors of the development’s buildings.  Murals that were both decorative and filled with messages were painted on the walls of the Old Colony Teen Center.  The exterior signage was completely repainted as well, and plantings were put down in a number of areas.  It was a hard day’s work in the first really hot weather of the year.

One of the key sponsors of Serve-A-Thon was the Omnicom Group.  Omnicom is an international media/marketing company.  At more than $10 billion in annual revenues, it is the world’s largest such firm, and it more than halfway up the list of Fortune 500 corporations.  Omnicom’s mission includes volunteerism and financial support of worthy causes.  It has aided rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Katrina and earthquake victims in China.  In addition, Omnicom actively seeks local projects like Serve-A-Thon to assist with.

At the ribbon-cutting to open the newly refurbished Teen Center at Old Colony, which Omnicom had financed and supplied volunteer workers for, Omnicom’s CFO Randall Weisenburger paused for a moment.  Treasurer Dennis Hewitt and Ass’t Treasurer Maeve Robinson then brought out a check for $50,000 to the Old Colony Task Force, and Weisenburger presented it to Task Force President Susan Lenardis

This extremely generous gift was a complete surprise.  Lenardis was nearly overcome with gratitude, but managed to retain her composure as she accepted it from Omnicom.  The ribbon was then cut and the Center was opened to all.  It was just one of those really good days – what else can be said?