Fifteen NBC 6 employees were hard at work Wednesday morning, but they weren’t delivering the news or selling commercials to local businesses. Instead, they were volunteering at the Lorah Park Elementary School in Brownsville.
The NBC team was working with Hands on Miami to help spruce up the elementary school just ahead of the first day of school on Monday. Hands on Miami and Hands on Broward encourage volunteer partnerships between corporations and local institutions like school districts.
Among the volunteers at the school Wednesday were general manager Larry Olevitch, who worked a power saw, along with anchor Pam Giganti, who painted, and engineer Armando Gonzalez, who lettered a stairway.
NBC6 is committed to a project a month as part of the "Caring for Our Community" initiative. It was a hard day's work in the summer heat, but well worth it.
"You think about the power of a local TV station, and you talk about the news," General Manager Larry Olevitch explained. "The reality is, you serve the community and you serve the community in many ways by providing information and help. This is one way, as a group, to help a community."
Teachers and staff of Lorah Park Elementary School got a kick out of seeing the TV station workers at work.
"This is wonderful," said one teacher's aide as she watched sidewalk markers painted, an outdoor easel built and messages stenciled on stairway steps.
Local
The COO of Hands on Miami said that once organizations and their employees get a taste of volunteering, they often come back for more experiences.
"They are inspired to see what they can do next to carry on," said Darrill Gaschler.
