Community Service- Erie Bayhawks
The aspect of community involvement is too often lost in the pursuit of succession. Many businesses hold the belief that they give back to the community through taxes and providing jobs for their city. Although taxes and jobs are crucial for the growing economies, businesses are encouraged to go above and beyond. The community setting is a fragile ecosystem and businesses should see it as such. Improving the lives of the local citizens is a responsibility of big business and allows them to benefit from their philanthropy through loyalty from the community. Community service ranges from sponsoring youth athletic teams, volunteering time at the soup kitchen, or even creating educational programs, such as the Erie Bayhawk’s Read to Achieve program.
“The Erie Bayhawks and the NBA Development League work to promote the love of reading through the Read to Achieve program. The program, which includes schools from the Erie City School District, Millcreek Township School District, and Diocese of Erie schools, includes special Read to Achieve Nights and monthly Reading Timeouts. To date, The Bayhawks have over 5,000 student participants in the Read to Achieve program.”
– Erie Bayhawks NBA Development League
The Erie Bayhawks are a prime example of a philanthropic organization that reaches out to the children of Erie by stressing the importance of education.
“The reading program is supported by Reading Timeouts, in which Bayhawks players take time out of their schedules to visit participating schools. While at the schools, players often times talk to students about the importance of reading and read them a book. This past season, the Bayhawks did over 35 Reading Timeouts to participating classrooms. A chart is provided to all participating classrooms and teachers can help students track their progress. Once their goal is met, each student is presented with a free ticket to a select Bayhawks game, courtesy of PNC bank.”
– Erie Bayhawks NBA Development League
The Bayhawks and PNC bank pair education and basketball to promote an overall health lifestyle for all children in the community. It is crucial for all businesses, big and small, to volunteer their time, resources, and capital to the community. The citizens idolize those businesses who take the initiative to implement these types of programs and respect what businesses can do for the community that the government cannot. Ultimately, serving your peers is expected, but going above and beyond will most definitely not go unnoticed.
