MARTINSBURG – More than 30 employees from Procter & Gamble’s Tabler Station manufacturing plant traded the production floor for volunteer work Tuesday, spending the day serving meals, organizing donations and stocking shelves at the Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to community service.
The volunteer effort brought together employees from across the facility, including members of the plant’s senior leadership team, to assist in multiple areas of the mission.
Volunteers prepared and served meals in the kitchen, sorted donations in the thrift store and helped organize products in the food pantry while also donating Procter & Gamble products manufactured at the Tabler Station plant.
“We do a couple of these community service days every year,” said John Shaver, vice president of manufacturing and site leader for the Inwood facility. “We’re pretty lucky that we work for a company like Procter & Gamble that allows us to do things like this, and we want to make sure all of our employees are giving back as well.”
Shaver said between 30 and 40 employees volunteered throughout the day. While it was his first time working with the rescue mission, he said the company regularly partners with nonprofit organizations through initiatives coordinated by United Way, including previous volunteer projects at the Boys & Girls Club and other community organizations.
The opportunity to volunteer at the rescue mission originated with the plant’s African Ancestry Leadership Network, whose members wanted to identify a meaningful way to serve the local community.
Andre Graves, one of the network’s leaders, contacted Martinsburg city officials for recommendations before settling on the rescue mission. The project carried special meaning for him because of his own connection to the organization.
A U.S. military veteran, Graves said he arrived in Martinsburg in 2005 while seeking treatment through the Department of Veterans Affairs. With no immediate housing available through the VA, he was directed to the Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission, where he stayed until permanent accommodations became available.
“My story in Martinsburg actually starts right here at the Martinsburg Rescue Mission,” Graves said. “When this opportunity came for us to give back, I said this is great. It’s like God’s calling that we do this day of service.”
Graves said he was especially encouraged when the idea received the full backing of the plant’s executive leadership.
“Every person on the senior leadership team said, ‘We’re in,'” he said. “We make soap here. We make dryer sheets. We do all that. But what’s most important is giving back to the community.”
For many volunteers, the experience was also a personal reminder of the importance of serving others.
Ben Barham, the plant’s home care manager, said the day reminded him of volunteering with his wife at a local shelter years earlier before life’s demands made it more difficult to continue.
“It’s reminding me how impactful it was to me personally and just how fortunate I am,” Barham said. “I owe giving back, so it’s really impacted me that I need to get back to some of that stuff personally.”
Mission staff welcomed the additional help, noting that the organization typically relies on only a handful of employees to handle daily operations. The influx of volunteers allowed regular staff to catch up on projects that often go unfinished while ensuring guests continued receiving meals and other services.
Shaver said the partnership with the rescue mission is one the company hopes to continue.
“For us, it’s not about us,” he said. “It’s about how can we give back. That’s what’s really important to us.”
BY TOM MARKLAND tmarkland@journal-news.net
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