Philly Gives: Two Local Companies Doing Their Part to Support the Community This Season

As the holidays approach, it’s the perfect time for giving back. Two local Philadelphia companies are taking the opportunity to connect with the community and make the most of the season. Here’s how they’re getting it done.

Giving Back: Freedom Mortgage

Philadelphia native Stanley C. Middleman, President and CEO of Freedom Mortgage, talks about the evolution of Freedom Mortgage’s charitable efforts since it’s inception in 1990, including partnering with nonprofits that support veterans, the military and families that face food insecurity.

How have your charity initiatives evolved over the years?

When Freedom Mortgage was launched in 1990, we would support local organizations, including Little League Baseball® divisions. As the company grew and evolved, its charitable initiatives evolved, too, with a specialized focus on supporting veterans and those who are serving on active duty.

How do your employees get involved?

How do you encourage them to get involved? Freedom Mortgage’s Freedom Cares team, led by Stephanie Cummins, director of philanthropy, rallies employees to donate or volunteer their time. Freedom Cares delivers multipronged communications campaigns to promote initiatives. They also host biweekly meetings to educate team leaders on the latest campaigns in order to drive participation.

Do your charity/volunteer efforts improve company spirits? How so?

Yes, our philanthropic efforts are the cornerstone of our company values and drive our company culture. Every time we launch one of our annual campaigns, we divide our company into two teams for a friendly competition. Employees are driven by this community-minded event, and departments across each team rally together to take action and donate. In the past, team leaders have created incentives for employees by agreeing to having a pie thrown in their face when a donation goal is met—or throwing water balloons at the losing team’s leader. We found that a bit of competition enhances team camaraderie and creates a fun way to bond at work.

Why is it important to give back to your community?

Freedom Mortgage is one of the largest and fastest-growing independent mortgage companies in the country, with offices in multiple locations. We feel it’s important to give back where our employees live and work. It’s the right thing to do—to help those in need.

What goals have you set moving forward?

Each year, we aim to do better than the past year, whether that’s an increase in employee volunteer hours, employee donors, overall donation dollars or corporate charitable contributions.

Freedom Mortgage; 855-690-5900; freedommortgage.com

Mission Accomplished: WSFS Bank

Vernita Dorsey, Senior Vice President, Director of Community Strategy, shares how WSFS Bank associates live its vision, mission and strategy.

How do your charitable efforts tie into your mission as a company?

“We Stand for Service” is our mission and daily call to action, which combines with our vision, “we envision a day when everyone will thrive,” and our strategy of “engaged associates, living our culture, enriching the communities we serve.” As the largest locally headquartered bank, trust and wealth management company in the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware region, we are the economic engine for many individuals, families, businesses, institutions, governments and community and civic organizations. At WSFS, we give our time, talent and resources to community organizations across our footprint. Our associates are the heart of our strategy, which is rooted in our history as a leader in our communities for nearly 200 years, and they bring our mission and brand to life by stepping up to serve our customers, communities and each other.

What contributions are you proudest of as a company?

At WSFS, our social purpose is fueled by our dedicated associates and volunteer leaders who believe in investing their time, resources, energy and passion into our communities. In 2022, associates logged 17,643 volunteer hours, including providing financial literacy lessons and serving with community organizations across our footprint. In 2023, we re-affirmed our commitment to our communities with the launch of our inaugural “We Stand for Service Day.” This company-wide day of giving back to communities through volunteerism saw approximately 1,200 associates volunteer nearly 5,000 hours and make an impact at organizations across the Greater Philadelphia and Delaware region.

How do you encourage them to get involved?

Our corporate volunteer program, Team WSFS, encourages associates to volunteer with nonprofits of their choice in our region. WSFS backs up our commitment to our communities by providing each associate four hours per month of compensated work time for participation in volunteer activities, as well as by working closely with local nonprofits to identify board and committee service opportunities for associates. By leveraging our associates’ array of skills through nonprofit board and committee leadership roles, WSFS is helping to strengthen the organizations and reduce expenses for expertise the nonprofits would otherwise have to pay for, while also providing valuable leadership experience to our associates.

All of these volunteer efforts play a key role in our virtuous cycle: When we do well, our communities do well, and when our communities do well, we do well. We work closely with our nonprofit partners to schedule engaging volunteer events monthly as well as larger initiatives like our annual food drive. We also regularly recognize our Team WSFS volunteers by featuring their commitment to our communities on social media, our intranet, and our annual Top Volunteer Service Awards celebration. Our dedicated team of associates give back to a variety of causes they are passionate about, and their collective volunteer efforts help fuel our strategy and enrich our communities.

WSFS Bank; 1-888-973-7226; wsfsbank.com