Project Mercy: Finding Meaningful Ways to Contribute During COVID-19

Since 2007, Integrated Project Management Company’s charitable initiative, Integrated Project Mercy, has dedicated each fiscal quarter to a new initiative. Over the last 13 years, Project Mercy has served over 150 charities helping myriad causes, including homeless veterans, childhood literacy, autism awareness, world hunger, and mentoring programs, among countless others.

IPM recognizes that efforts to improve the lives of those struggling in their communities are more important than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to serve others in traditional ways. However, in line with IPM’s spirit and values, the Q1 Project Mercy leaders showed true agility and creativity in finding ways to contribute in the face of this unprecedented situation. This quarter, the Project Mercy teams decided each regional office would revisit one of the favorite charities it has previously served.

Project Mercy Wrap-Up: First Quarter 2020

The Boston and San Francisco teams revisited charities benefiting education and mentoring. The Boston office volunteered with the New Bedford Star Kids Mentoring Program, which empowers children from low-income backgrounds whose parents have a history of incarceration or substance abuse. New Bedford’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty through the power of education, and they support each of their participants to ensure they graduate from high school. The IPM team connected with students virtually to facilitate mentoring sessions, and some scheduled weekly sessions to continue connecting with kids.

Before the pandemic restrictions were enacted, San Francisco IPMers held an in-office assembly event to benefit Tandem Partners in Early Learning, during which they assembled 23 sets of StoryBlocks used to teach pre-kindergarten children to read and build confidence with these educational materials.

The global issue of widespread hunger is a cause that several Project Mercy efforts have been dedicated to serving in the past. In early March, the Chicago team returned to this cause and volunteered in person at Feed My Starving Children. They packed 239 boxes of food, or over 50,000 meals, which will feed 141 children for one full year. In Minneapolis, employees had made plans to volunteer in person at Second Harvest, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, they contributed financial donations in lieu of volunteer hours. The Minneapolis team was able to volunteer at a local church facilitating drive-up food pantries for families hit hard by the pandemic.

The New Jersey Project Mercy team supported Easterseals, a nonprofit organization that provides support to individuals with disabilities, veterans, and senior citizens, among many other groups in need. Due to the pandemic, they were unable to volunteer in person, so the group sent a financial donation to support future services.

The Los Angeles team assisted the Downtown Women’s Center (DWC)—the only organization in LA specifically focused on supporting and empowering females who are or have been experiencing homelessness. Instead of assembling much-needed toiletry kits and clean-home kits at the facility, as they had intended, the team facilitated shipments of supplies directly to the center to observe California’s social distancing requirements.

— Published July 21, 2020