AT&T Pioneers help give back to the community
June 28, 2011 by Las Vegas Black Image Magazine
Filed under Community
Most of us associate AT&T with our cell phone service and wireless Internet connections. But in Las Vegas, the telecommunications giant also sponsors AT&T Pioneers — an independent non-profit organization that provides AT&T employees, their friends and family members with opportunities to give back to the community.
“Recently, another subsidiary of our company, called AT&T Care, awarded $5,000 to the Nevada Rescue Mission,” said local Pioneers vice president Deneen Garrett. “The Pioneers primarily assist the community by offering our employees, who volunteer, to assist an organization or people (who are)enhancing the community. For example, we provide volunteers to help serve food to the homeless every second Sunday of the month through our volunteer service at the Nevada Rescue Mission.”
On a mission to set examples for community involvement, Garrett said there are more than 300,000 AT&T Pioneers across the nation. “We participate as volunteers in various projects that benefit the community,” she explained. “There is at least one AT&T Pioneer chapter in every state in the United States, and Las Vegas currently … has one that was established in 2008. Our executive council is based in Reno, but we are growing and eventually we will have a council in Las Vegas.”
The core service of AT&T Pioneers is volunteer participation assistance, which helps service organizations reach their objectives in the community. Garrett is adamant about helping anyone who is trying to make a positive contribution.
“People always ask if we can assist them. I tell them to write it up in a proposal, and we can certainly see what we can do,” said Garrett. “Our services don’t require you to be a non profit. Only if we are assisting an organization … with fundraising (do) we ask for them to have a non profit 501(c)(3) status. Other than that, we are just here to make our community a better place.”
For more information on AT&T Pioneers, email Deneen Garrett at deneen.garrett@att.com.
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