Our Top 10 Highlights of 2022
As we wrap up 2022 and look forward to next year, we want to express our gratitude to our community, who supported us, posted opportunities, and volunteered. From new partnerships to our team growth, this year has been a year of highlights! We compiled a top 10 list for you to be excited about and to celebrate with us!
MLK Day
660 people participated in the 1 City, 2 Realities virtual exhibit. More than 200 people joined us for our Bold Conversation Panel. This conversation sparked a lot of thought in people, and we heard from people in the 1 City 2 Realities debriefs that they really appreciated the perspective and insights brought by the panelists. This video (along with last year’s panel event) lives on our webpage for anyone to access throughout the year. You can find that link here. Overall, we had 3,191 MLK day website visits!
Galentine’s Day
2022 Galentine's Day was our biggest to-date! A total of 120 attendees dropped off donations of hygiene items and menstrual products for Touchstone Mental Health, Project for Pride in Living, Neighbors, Inc., Neighborhood House, and Keystone Community Services. Our goal was to raise more than last year's in-kind donation value of $12,000, and we tripled that goal! Together, we collected $36,434 worth of hygiene and menstrual products!! We couldn't have done it without our partners, sponsors, team, and community.
Connected for Change
Through six virtual Connected for Change Days, 197 community volunteers supported 47 nonprofits, providing 1533 hours of volunteerism, a value of $299,032 in pro bono service! Days included: Strategy, HR, Marketing, Tech, Connected for Sustainability, and Connected for Social Justice. For information about our 2023 days, visit https://www.handsontwincities.org/connected-for-change.
Custom Pro Bono Projects
623 corporate volunteers worked with 117 BIPOC-led small businesses and nonprofits, providing 18,650 hours of pro bono support. A value of $3,636,750 in services! Learn more about how the program is impacting local community members through this Star Tribune feature. This holiday season, we encourage you to support our small business partners by checking out our Purchase Power page for your shopping needs.
9/11 Day of Service
Planned in conjunction with 9/11 Day, more than 400 volunteers packed over 140,000 meals for Second Harvest Heartland at the Minneapolis Convention Center. This day of volunteerism is one of many 9/11 Day-supported projects held across the U.S. Nearly 12,000 volunteers in 11 different cities - representing more than 200 employers, military veteran organizations, faith groups, and schools - gathered to pack meals for those in need. More than 2.5 million meals were packed at these events and distributed to those in need nationwide!
Find Your Cause
After a two-year hiatus, we were thrilled to once again host Find Your Cause at Lakes & Legends Brewing Company. With 20 nonprofit organizations onsite, this in-person networking opportunity was an easy way for more than 80 volunteers to connect to opportunities that ignite their passion and learn more about our amazing partners!
Corporate Projects
1,300 at-home Project in a Box sent to corporate volunteers working remotely, 70,000 Kits to local partners, 130 volunteer projects completed in 2022, over 125 nonprofits supported through corporate hands-on projects, 12,000 service hours, and 8,500 corporate volunteers engaged. The corporate sector can become a force for good. An inspiring example of this work was with United Healthcare (UHC) and 180 Degrees, where UHC transformed 180 Degrees’ shed. Here’s what they had to say about the impact it had:
“It’s hard to estimate the impact of this project. The psychological impact of cleaning out a space that was overwhelming to us is immense. It gives us a lift to move forward. We can actually see what we have now – and identify what our gaps our –so that ultimately we are better meeting the needs of the girls at Brittany’s Place – along with all our clients across our programs including 4 youth shelters, 3 community-based program, and 2 residential programs for adults.“ - Janet, 180 Degrees
Warehouse
This year, we distributed more than 70,000 snack packs, hygiene kits, school supplies, blankets, and other kits to our community partners! With all these supplies coming and going, along with the supplies for our yardwork, landscaping, and painting projects, we were thrilled to move into a 3,417-square-foot warehouse located in the same building as our office in 2022. We provide lots of opportunities for volunteers to engage at the warehouse, so follow us for upcoming ways to get involved!
Strategic Planning
We were very excited to work with Creative Catalysts during the past year to create a comprehensive strategic plan that included reworking our mission, vision, and values. With key feedback from our stakeholders and with input from all staff and board, we’ve been able to identify priorities, set goals and measures, and develop an action plan for implementation for the next three years.
Equity Work
For the past four years, HandsOn Twin Cities has been working with The Woke Coach to continue to deepen our analysis and understanding around issues of racism, bias, allyship, and injustice. The entire team participates in quarterly engagements to continue our personal DEIA learning and journeys. This year we completed a comprehensive Equity Audit and have been embarking on developmental coaching sessions to revamp policies, procedures, and messaging for staff, board, and external partners. Additionally, The Woke Coach has been a continued partner in our annual series Volunteerism and Equity: A Bold Conversation. Check out past conversations and join us on MLK Day, January 16, 2023, for our next conversation. Registration is coming soon!