This August marked the 8^th year of HandsOn Twin Cities partnering with Boston Scientific for their annual employee Volunteer Week in Minnesota. Nearly 700 Boston Scientific employees contributed over 1,500 volunteer hours through 21 unique community events!  HandsOn Twin Cities and Boston Scientific Community Relations teams collaborated for many months, coordinating with non-profits and schools to coordinate meaningful events for partnering organizations. From the initial brainstorming phase to day of event management, HandsOn Twin Cities staff were committed to making this year’s Volunteer Week as impactful as possible, for all involved.

Working with local schools, emergency shelters, food banks, hospitals, and other community programs, volunteers supported a variety of needs, including the building of 31 dressers for families in crisis, assembling 400 hygiene kits for Children’s Hospitals of Minneapolis and St. Paul, hosting an ice cream social for families receiving treatments at the Masonic Children’s Hospital, and packaging over 27,000 meals for our community members in need.

The tremendous work accomplished by this year’s volunteers was immediately felt.  Angela Julin, the Manager of Events and Public Operations at The Bakken Museum said, “The Bakken Museum can’t thank Boston Scientific enough for their contributions to our facility. The volunteers truly made our outdoor space beautiful, and the collective efforts assisting our education staff will directly support our field trips and camps! Combined, the volunteers donated 150 hours of their time, which would have taken our facilities and education staff weeks to complete (and by that time, all the weeds would have already grown back).  We welcome Boston Scientific volunteers back anytime, as they are highly skilled and motivated, and an absolute pleasure to work with!”

Dr. Joseph Neglia, the Physician-in-Chief and Head of the Department of Pediatrics at the Masonic Children’s Hospital, also commented on the impact the volunteers made. “We thank Boston Scientific for taking the time to host an ice cream social at University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. This event was a wonderful treat and brought joy to our many patients and families! We are grateful for our extraordinary corporate partners who continue to advance the health and well-being of children throughout the community.”

Thousands of community members have and will continue to benefit from the efforts of the Boston Scientific volunteers beyond this volunteer week.  HandsOn Twin Cities is thrilled to have been a part of such a fantastic week!  We look forward to continuing to build such strong volunteer engagements which strengthen our amazing school and nonprofit partners and support our community.