Serving our communities during National Volunteer Week | PEMCO

This week is National Volunteer Week, and we are excited for PEMCO employees and our communities to join in person to make a difference. 

This year, we’re partnering with three local nonprofits who are doing critical work in environmental stewardship – Schoolhouse Supplies, Habitat for Humanity Spokane, and EarthGen – and we’re honored to support their efforts. They each share our commitment to our community Y.E.S. focus area of Environment.  

We invite you to follow us on social media to help PEMCO be a force for good in the communities we serve and learn more about the organizations. 

Schoolhouse Supplies (Portland, OR) 

Schoolhouse Supplies was founded to provide free school supplies to students and their teachers in the most under-resourced schools in our community, but also to engage members of the community and to keep supplies out of the waste stream. Twenty-three years later, all three of these are central to the way they work – 100% of the products in the Free Store for Teachers are donated by the community.  

Approximately 75% of those products are reclaimed, surplus, or gently used products that would otherwise be discarded. Last year, the equivalent of 86,000 pounds of stuff avoided landfills. With the help of hundreds of volunteers, all those items found a new useful life in a local classroom. 

What our team will be doing to help: PEMCO volunteers will sort and take inventory of donations, stock supplies, assemble materials for teachers, and work in the warehouse. 

Habitat for Humanity (Deer Park, WA)  

Habitat for Humanity Spokane helps build sustainable, affordable homes for families to truly thrive. Every Habitat-Spokane home is built to meet the Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard which requires environmentally conscious construction practices, energy efficiency, and water conservation. A Habitat-Spokane home not only provides a strong foundation for families to stand on their own, but also produces a ripple effect that revitalizes our neighborhoods by raising property values and supporting surrounding businesses. 

What our team will be doing to help: PEMCO volunteers will help put the finishing touches on up to four new houses in the Hope Meadows neighborhood. Using sustainable and responsible practices, the team will help build homes that last, include painting, installing flooring, trim, cabinetry, landscaping and more.  

EarthGen (Seattle, WA) 

EarthGen equips youth to grow their power as changemakers for a healthy environment. Through EarthGen’s science-based, action-oriented programs, young people gain the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to become leaders for climate solutions and environmental justice. EarthGen's Rain Garden Program supports STEM education as students design and engineer and build each project. Rain gardens capture gray water runoff from roads, which is the largest source of polluted water due to car tires and oils and deadly upon contact for our local salmon and wildlife. 

What our team will be doing to help: PEMCO volunteers will join EarthGen in a project maintaining a rain garden and wetland at a low-income school in Seattle. Work will include weeding, moving mulch, planting, and general upkeep. 

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn for daily updates on the organizations and events.