Over 50 volunteers from Progressive Insurance gathered this week to help bring a little holiday cheer to the winding halls of Euclid’s Shore Cultural Centre. With many different jobs needing to be completed, eager volunteers from across the company were split into teams and assigned to yard work, painting, cleaning and mopping — leaving others scaling ladders, decorating halls with fistsful of holly and strings of white lights. Laura Kidder, Manager at Shore Cultural Centre stands in front of Theo Fielding, a representative from Progressive Insurance during a roundup meeting. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) According to Theo Fielding, a representative from Progressive Insurance, the company offers to pay employees to volunteer as part of a quarterly session where they have management meetings in the morning and then go into the community to do service work. “The group that is here today is our Research and Development Group in our personal lines organization,” Fielding said at the Nov. 12 event. “We have quarterly meetings in the second quarter and the fourth quarter that include an afternoon community service activity. Progressive has been partnering with Laura (Kidder) for quite some time…so we are here today to once again fulfill the requirement around community service. “Because we aren’t in the workplace anymore you don’t get those organic conversations anymore that you used to, as you walked to the cafeteria, coming in the morning, talking over the walls that kind of thing.” Volunteers gather for their assignments. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) He said that another benefit for the company was that people would see that they are in the community and participating in making it better in some way. “The other important part for a company like ours is that we insure all these communities and everyone in these communities,” Fielding said. “So having a visible piece… and seeing that (we are) volunteering at the community center in my community, there is a … good will piece to it.” He said that it’s hard to find events where a group of perhaps 100 people could volunteer together. Because of that they often come to the Shore Cultural Centre because there is enough stuff to do for such a large group. “Finding those opportunities are a little bit more difficult to not spread people out and have that cohesiveness,” Fielding said. “They will be split into teams and working on different projects, but they are all here. The crossover will be that once we get done with work, find a happy hour place that is close enough to here so that everybody can go off… hang out for a little bit longer before we all go our separate ways again.” Volunteers from Progressive Insurance help string up lights in the hallways of Euclid’s Shore Cultural Centre, 291 E 222nd St. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) Laura Kidder, the manager at Shore Cultural Centre, said that if the volunteers did not help, the holiday transformation would be up to one worker. She said she is thankful for the work that was being done around her. “We’re incredibly grateful to the volunteers from Progressive Insurance for their hard work and dedication in helping us maintain the Shore Cultural Centre and prepare for the annual Euclid Holiday Lighting Event,” Kidder wrote in a statement. “Their contributions today have made a significant impact on our community. We look forward to future opportunities to partner with such a generous organization.” Strings of lights and holly are moved down the hallway by volunteers. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) Laura Kidder, Manager at Shore Cultural Centre shows volunteers where lights are being stored. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) Some of the volunteers were meeting each other in person for the first time since some of the remote workers are as far away as New York City. Lights are tested and fixed by Progressive Insurance volunteers. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald.) Volunteer Sarah Ungerm said that she was happy to be involved in a community project and that by volunteering she already feels more connected to what’s happening in the city. “After speaking with the mayor, it seems like a great place for the whole community to be involved,” Unger said in between hanging up holiday decorations. “I wasn’t aware of some of the projects that (Euclid) has in place. I’ve seen the Sims Park improvements, but it was great to hear about some of the other improvements going on in the community, making it a great place to visit and a good time at the parks. “I feel like sometimes when we are so busy being focused on business objectives, we lose sight of what is important in day-to-day interactions with the community, and this allows us to be around people like us and spend time laughing together and making people smile. “Some of these decorations you can tell have been around for quite some time; there is one from the old high school that we included,” Unger continued. “I hope somebody walks through the halls and sees it… and it brings a smile to people’s faces.”