TSCPA’s CPA Month of Service

Chapter Activities

Check out what the TSCPA chapters have planned for this year’s CPA Month of Service, and learn how you can get involved! Check back to see new chapter activities added in the months leading up to November.

Austin Chapter

The Austin Chapter will be participating in the following projects during TSCPA’s Month of Service:

• 11/05 - Habitat for Humanity Build (8:00 am to 4:00 pm)
• 11/12 - ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk – Austin (8:30 am), Camp Mabry
• 11/15 - Central Texas Food Bank – 10 volunteers needed (6:00 to 8:30 pm), CTFB Metropolis Drive

For more details and to sign up to volunteer, visit the chapter’s Community Involvement website at http://cpascount.org/get-involved/community-service/. If you have any questions regarding these projects, please contact Kaira Tanwar at ktanwar@tscpa.net or 512-445-0044, ext. 107.

Central Texas Chapter

The Central Texas Chapter will be working with the Central Texas Hospitality House in Gatesville, Texas. The Central Texas Hospitality House provides a place for families traveling over 250 miles to stay while visiting family and friends who are incarcerated. There is no charge for those who use the facility and meals are also provided. Gatesville has over 50,000 visitors a year to the prisons. To participate, please contact Rebekah North, Central Texas Chapter Executive Director, at centraltxed@yahoo.com or 254-732-3026.

Corpus Christi Chapter

The Corpus Christi Chapter is inviting young CPAs and emerging professionals to participate in the HEB Miles for Meals Glow 5K Run/Walk at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12. Those who register on or before Oct. 25 pay only $25 to sign up. The fee increases after that date. The location is NorthShore Country Club, 801 E Broadway Blvd, Portland, Texas 78374. To sign up, visit: https://runsignup.com/Race/TX/Portland/HEBMiles4MealsGlow5KRunWalk. If you have any questions, please contact Melinda Bentley at mbentley@tscpa.net or 800/428-0272, ext. 279.

East Texas Chapter

The East Texas Chapter in Tyler will be teaming up with the East Texas Food Bank in fighting hunger and feeding hope to our community. What can you do to help?

• You and your organization are encouraged to collect foods in the month of October.
• Meet at the East Texas Food Bank on Friday, Nov. 11 from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. to donate those goods and volunteer. Make sure to sign-in and wear closed-toe shoes when you arrive! The East Texas Food Bank is located at 3201 Robertson Road, Tyler, TX 75701. If you’d like to participate in the photoshoot to occur at 2:00 p.m., please volunteer closer to that time.
• If you wish to spread the word and share your volunteer experience on social media, include the hashtag #TXCPASERVICE, and like us on our Facebook page, ETX Young CPAs.
• If you find yourself unable to participate on Friday, November 11th, you have the entire month of November for the opportunity to serve your community. Just make sure to sign-in as part of the East Texas Chapter of the TSCPA when you arrive at the East Texas Food Bank.

El Paso Chapter

The El Paso Chapter will be holding a food drive for the El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank (www.elpasoansfightinghunger.org), which is a partner distribution organization for Feeding America. The chapter will start collecting food in bins at the larger CPA firm participants' offices as early as October 3rd and through the month of November. In addition, the El Paso Chapter will collect food at its monthly membership meetings on Monday, October 31st and Tuesday, November 22nd. The chapter has also scheduled a volunteer day with the Food Bank to help with stocking and sorting. The volunteer day is Saturday, November 19th from 8:00 am - 12:00 noon.

Members interested in volunteering or hosting a collection bin can contact Beverly Longoria, El Paso Chapter Executive Director, at eptscpa@gmail.com. The food bank is located at 9541 Plaza Circle, El Paso, TX 79927. Their contact is Joe Hernandez (joehernandez@feedingamerica.org; 915-298-0353).

Dress code for volunteers is as follows:

• Youth MUST BE at least 12 years old to volunteer.
• Youth 12-16 years old MUST BE accompanied by an adult. Youth groups must have ratio of one adult per 8 youth.
• Volunteers must wear long pants and closed toed shoes (no sandals, flip flops, etc.)
• The use of cellphones, headphones and ear buds, etc. is not permitted while volunteering.
• No jewelry, only exception is wedding band.

Houston Chapter

The Houston Chapter young professionals group will be volunteering with the Houston Food Bank at the Kitchen location (2445 North Freeway, Houston, TX 77009) on 11/10/2016 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.. To register to volunteer, please select this link. If you have any questions, please contact Frances Boeckers at fboeckers@houstoncpa.org or 713-622-7733.

At the Houston Food Bank's Keegan Kitchen facility, volunteers and Food Bank staff work side-by-side to prepare hot meals for children participating in the Kids Cafe after-school program. Meal production is overseen by Chef Jose Montoya who, with many years of experience, brings skill and love to the food he prepares. Volunteers MUST be at least 16 years old and supervised by parent or guardian throughout the shift. Volunteers will assist with meal prep work (i.e. slicing, cutting, stirring, etc.) and the packaging of hot meals for daily distribution to Kids Cafe sites. The kind of work you'll do varies from day to day, so please be flexible about your work station. We might need to reassign you so we can work more efficiently! Limited lot and street parking is available. Carpooling is recommended whenever possible.

What you wear affects your safety and the safety of the food you'll be handling:

• You MUST wear long pants, a shirt with sleeves (no tank tops or sleeveless shirts) and shoes with closed toes.
• Please do NOT wear jewelry. Even small stud earrings can get loose and fall into food.
• While you're in the kitchen, you'll be wearing aprons, gloves, and hairnets (you can bring your own cap.)

Important tips and reminders for your upcoming volunteer shift:

• For your safety, personal belongings are not allowed in project areas. Due to limited locker space, we ask that you lock your purse, jackets, backpacks and any other valuables in your vehicle before checking-in.
• If you require any special accommodations just let us know before your volunteer shift so we can plan accordingly.
• Media Reminders: If you are planning to take any video footage, wish to have a Food Bank spokesperson available for interviews or want to share your volunteer experience with the media, please obtain the approval of the director of Communications, Adele Brady, at 713-547-8674 at least 2 weeks prior to your volunteer session.
• Checking-In: Please have the bar code shown below with you when you come to volunteer for this shift. In lieu of printing this page, the Houston Food Bank has free WIFI which will allow you to go paperless - simply display the QR code on your cell phone and scan-in when you arrive.

Fort Worth Chapter

Fort Worth CPAs’ UP Group (Under Forty Professionals) will pitch in at a community-funded private school offering grades pre-K through 2, in an economically disadvantaged area of Fort Worth. Currently, 80% of the students attending the school are from families earning less than $15,000 a year. The school is working to improve and expand its physical plant. On the morning of Saturday, November 12, CPA volunteers will clean, repair and improve the school building. Later in the month, CPAs will provide a holiday gift bazaar for students, enabling them to select donated gifts for their parents, guardians and siblings. The projects were conceived by Member Involvement Committee cochair Josh Willson, who met a member of the school’s staff by chance at a community event. UP Group chairs Jacob Briggs and Sarah Verheyen are in charge of the project, with support from Member Involvement Committee cochairs Elizabeth Godwin and Josh Willson. For more details and to sign up to help, go to www.FortWorthCPA.org/UP-Group. If you have any questions regarding these projects, please contact Jennifer Davis at jldavis@fortworthcpa.org.

Permian Basin Chapter

The Permian Basin Chapter will be participating in a food drive with the University of Texas of the Permian Basin during the first two weeks of November. More details coming soon.

South Plains Chapter

The South Plains Chapter will be volunteering with the Junior League of Lubbock's Food2Kids program. This program provides weekly food sacks to children identified as food insecure in Lubbock ISD's elementary schools. The sacks contain high caloric, self-stable food that a child as small as 5 is able to prepare and eat (think pudding cups, crackers, fruit cups, etc.). This is because the children are many times at home alone and do not have access to microwaves, stoves, etc., as well as they can share the food with siblings and have food that will not spoil. Many of these children would otherwise eat little or no food for the entire weekend without these food sacks.

TSCPA members will stuff the food sacks for one week of the program. Each week, approximately 1,500 sacks are distributed throughout the Lubbock ISD elementary school campuses. Event date is TBD.  To participate, please contact Kathleen Burrell, South Plains Chapter Executive Director, at southplainstscpa@gmail.com or (806) 792-6343.