Mary Rigg

The southwest side of Indianapolis suffers from the loss of manufacturing jobs, high unemployment and low education. Mary Rigg has served area residents of all ages for more than 100 years, offering help and hope for those on the bottom rung of society’s ladder. Mary Rigg is not just about emergency assistance or referrals to government agencies; they offer an array of community services including summer day camp at affordable rates, after school care, job training and job placement services, financial planning and even dinner for 350+ children and seniors four nights a week.

When I first joined the board of this United Way Agency, I began the creation of an entirely new branded look for the Mary Rigg marketing materials, annual reports and website. We created a database, began social networking, involved residents from the neighborhood in programming, launched an annual citywide fundraiser, attracted board members from top corporations and grew  the volunteer base from companies in the area. As past President of the board, I’ve seen firsthand the dignity and pride that comes when a Mary Rigg client graduates from a computer training class or a high school freshman visits a college campus and dreams of being the first in his family to attend a university.

www.maryrigg.org

Note: Long hours, little recognition, no pay, yet I found myself putting Mary Rigg first on my list of client to do’s.
I often heard about the opportunity to “give back,”
but I didn’t begin to understand the pure joy of it until my relationship with Mary Rigg.

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