Greenleaf Day of Caring

I know that many of you have heard me speak about the importance of the four “Cs” to Greenleaf Trust. The four Cs represent what is most important to us. They are the driving force of our business. They are our purpose. They are what inspire us to do the work that we do. They are our “Why.” The four Cs for Greenleaf Trust are Clients, Colleagues, Culture, and Community.

The four Cs are interrelated. We are in business to serve our clients. To make a difference in their lives. We do this with a talented team of colleagues. We support, grow, engage, and inspire that team with our unique culture. We do this together within communities whose vibrance impacts all of our lives and therefore, like our culture, require continuous nurturing.

There are no days off from the focus on our four Cs; however, there are days where we focus a little bit more on some. The third Monday of February is a day for the last eight years that we have specifically focused on Community. With the capital markets closed in observance of Presidents’ Day, we created a day for our teammates to give back to the communities in which we live, work, and play. We call this day our Day of Caring.

Each teammate is encouraged to take that day and volunteer their time and talents to causes close to their hearts in their respective communities. The message is simple. Don’t come into the office, but instead go out as leaders and help within your community. This year our volunteers provided over 300 hours of service in one day within their respective communities and helped more than 25 different non-profit institutions.

The day provides both external and internal benefits; what often happens is that groups of teammates volunteer together at a common non-profit institution. By doing so, they are able to give back to their communities and build relationships with each other. For instance, teammates in our Birmingham, Michigan office volunteered at Brilliant Detroit community centers in the city. Teammates in our Grand Rapids, Michigan office volunteered at Kent County Habitat for Humanity. Our Midland, Michigan office team volunteered at Arc of Midland and our Northern Michigan team got together to make fleece blankets for patients at a local cancer center. Our Kalamazoo team was mostly spread out throughout the community, except for our Retirement Plan Division and Operations Division which spent their day at Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes.

Our Day of Caring is something we Greenleafians all look forward to and enjoy each and every year. There are a lot of smiles on that day for sure. We recognize though that it’s not just about volunteering for a single day, but instead it’s a commitment we all have to give back and make our communities better. That commitment lasts throughout the entire year and is why Greenleaf Trust teammates volunteered more than 1750 hours of their time and talents in 2022. No days off from the focus on our four Cs.