Volunteerism Teaches Local High School Interns the Importance of ‘Shared Value’

BY MIKE GREENBURG

Guttenberg residents Amadee Leblanc and Mike Suastegui were among the high school interns from SKA Management who volunteered to help homeless people at Palisades Emergency Residence Corporation (PERC) on Martin Luther King Day. PERC is a Hudson County nonprofit offering emergency shelter, a soup kitchen, a food pantry, a life-building program, permanent housing, and other services.

“When employees give back, it can lead to deeper commitment and connection to their work,” said SKA Management CEO Sandeep Kumar Aggarwal. “Community service opens our eyes to immense human needs that must be met, and enables us to place our core values into action.” In addition to providing hands-on assistance with meals, SKA Management also donated clothes, shoes, and accessories to PERC.

Companies encouraging community involvement see many benefits, including customer loyalty and employee satisfaction. Leblanc said he felt “a sense of genuine happiness, an increase in self-confidence, and a sense of purpose”
serving the homeless.

Additional benefits include improved leadership and team-building. Community service makes us feel good; when you volunteer you are improving your life and your health. The benefits of volunteering are countless: social, emotional,
physical, and professional.

With offices in West New York and Manhattan, SKA Management emphasizes “shared value” to integrate business and society. “Why do people want to be here?” Aggarwal asks. “Not because we have more amenities. We have less.
We don’t have a cafeteria. But we have a stronger purpose and mission.”

Shared value means doing business in ways that benefit society, the local community, and the environment, all while delivering long term shareholder value. SKA Management has embarked on these shared value initiatives,
leading the way in reshaping business’s relationship to society while driving the economy’s next wave of innovation.

“I volunteer because it makes a difference,” said Suastegui, a senior intern. “I feel more connected to others, and become less absorbed in the normal stresses of daily life.”