As the calendar turned to November, several UPMC employees participated in a Project Bundle-Up shopping event.
Alison Beam, senior vice president and chief government affairs officer, UPMC, took part in the annual tradition. Along with her husband and two sons, she joined a group of fellow UPMC employees and family members.
“We look forward to it,” Beam says. “The boys know this is kind of the transition from the Halloween/fall season into the busy holiday season, so this is a great moment for us as a family to be able to look forward to what’s to come.”
Project Bundle-Up is a partnership between The Salvation Army Western Pennsylvania Division and WTAE-TV. The program provides new winter outerwear for children and seniors.
Since 1986, Project Bundle-Up has raised more than $17 million and provided new winter outwear for 305,000 people.
The UPMC employees teamed up with local children at a department store in Monroeville, Pa. They shopped for new winter outwear, including coats, hats, gloves, and boots.
“UPMC organizes this in a way that allows us to really feel that not only are we building up a lot of community dedication, but we’re also doing it as a team,” Beam says.
“We’re doing it with our colleagues. We’re doing it with our friends from different areas of the organization, which is also part of our dedication to saying not only are we strong partners with the community, but we’re strong partners for each other.”
Beam says she and her husband try to emphasize the importance of service to their sons, who are 5 and 7 years old. Events like Project Bundle-Up serve as a valuable reminder of the importance of giving back.
“It’s amazing how UPMC affords us so many opportunities to thread that into volunteering with the organization," Beam says. "Whether it’s with the food bank, whether it’s in schools, whether it’s working any of those opportunities in the community.
“We try to bring the boys along so they have an opportunity to understand service and understand what it means to give back.”
They’re already looking forward to their next Project Bundle-Up outing, one sure to be filled with more memories and lessons.
“These kids bring so much joy, and it honestly reminds us about service and our communities,” Beam says. “It brings it all back home, so it’s been great to be out here.”
At UPMC, Life Changing Medicine means caring for people in our communities and helping to keep them warm.
Learn more about how you can help support Project Bundle-Up.
Working in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh and a wide range of community organizations, we are committed to improving the health of the communities we serve.
Life Changing Medicine at UPMC is made possible every day through the generosity of numerous individuals, corporations and foundations.
With volunteers ranging from teens to seniors and options involving office work or patient care, there's a place for all qualifying volunteers at nearly two dozen UPMC hospitals.
