As we reflect on National Volunteer Month, Team dGC wanted to share some of the moments that made this month of volunteerism and community engagement special for us. 

Amidst a global pandemic, we knew that National Volunteer Month would look a bit different this year for many. When we first decided to participate in this month of giving, the question of “How can we impact the community during this time when Nashville, even though the city and its residents had been through so much, still seemingly already has everything?” continued to arise. 

Now, you’re probably thinking that the answer should have come easily, but for our team, it warranted a conversation. Nashville does seemingly have everything – a community marked with agencies like Hands on Nashville, United Way, Second Harvest Food Bank and many other organizations committed to providing services to Nashvillians. However, it takes an all-hands-on-deck approach for these agencies and others like them to impact our community. The existence of these agencies, however, doesn’t negate our responsibilities to our community. For duGard Communications, serving is our mission, and one of the words in our duGood Core Values is giving. It’s the core of our company. It’s who we are. Since our founding, we have been committed to pouring into Nashville, as well as other cities that our clients have taken us to, but we continuously seek ways to positively impact Music City. So, for National Volunteer Month, we decided to duGOOD and put focused action behind our words. 

The Challenge

At the beginning of the month, each team member was challenged to share their time and talents with the local community. While several members of our team are active board members in various civic and social organizations, we encouraged each person to get involved with an organization, activity or service project outside of which they were already involved – connecting to a personal area of passion. Additionally, we calculated the amount of time we gave in service (individually and as a team) along with the company’s pro-bono hours during 2020.

The Impact 

Each person on Team dGC stepped up to the challenge and amassed over 60 hours during the month of April (2021). In 2020, we collectively amassed over 750 hours of service. 

Here’s some of the ways we were able to offer support during the year and National Volunteer Month. 

Perri duGard Owens, our president and chief executive officer, is heavily involved with the Nashville Children’s Theater and serves Family and Children’s Services, Choral Arts Link and  Nashville Public Television. In addition to personally being hit by the Nashville tornado, she was  involved with North Nashville cleanup efforts following the March 2020 tornado. 

Van Pinnock, chief administrative officer, committed service time to College Hill Neighborhood Group, Choral Arts Link, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, Family and Children’s Services, Fisk University Alumni Association, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and Tennessee State University Board of Trustees. 

Anthony Owens, chief operations officer, offered time and talents to the Tennessee State University Athletics Department’s One Party, One Purpose organization that converted to virtual efforts that made tremendous fundraising, even during the pandemic. He also committed time to the Historic Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, The Temple Church and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. 

Other team members contributed time and service to organizations such as the Taproot Foundation, DC Shiba Inu Rescue, Shepard’s Center of Arlington and Jefferson Street United Merchant Partnership (J.U.M.P). 

Among the many hours provided to other non-profit clients, we also offered pro bono services for the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. convocation at Tennessee State University in 2020. This annual convocation serves as part of the annual MLK Day of Service, a federal designated day that encourages all to participate in service and volunteerism. Along with this amazing effort, dGC also served The Grove CDC, J.U.M.P., Choral Arts Link and the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) through pro bono services, as well. 

The Call to Serve

For duGard Communications, it’s embedded in our company culture to serve, where the spirit of giving resonates from company leadership and every level of the organization. Our service impacts how we operate and allows us to do great work in the Nashville community.