This month we are highlighting Wesley Schmitz, who is the Property Manager at Aertson Midtown and a recent user of his employee perk, Volunteer Time Off. Learn more about Wes and what he spent his eight allotted VTO hours on!
Wes sits on the Board of Directors and is an advocate of Country for a Cause, a one-night benefit concert each year hosted during CMA Fest that raises money for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. This year, his team raised over $14,000 through this event which featured Kelly Lang and T.G. Sheppard. All profits raised during the event go to aid local families of the cancer hospital for children in partnership with Children's Miracle Network.
How long have you been involved with this non-profit? I've volunteered the last five years and then the last two years I've been on the Board of Directors. This year, thanks to Buckingham's VTO hours, I was able to recruit our Leasing Consultant, Erica Hirsch, who volunteered during the event as well.
What is Country for a Cause? This is an annual four hour concert held during CMA Fest that features legendary country artists such as T.G. Sheppard, Kelly Lang, Crystal Gayle, Larry Gatlin, John Berry, Mark Wills, Moe Bandy, Jeannie Seely, T. Graham Brown, and many more! This non-profit event allows funds to be donated to local families who have loved ones in the local children's hospital and are undergoing cancer treatment.
What did you use your VTO hours for exactly? As a board member, we have five meetings a year to go over logistics, sponsorship, and run of show. Day of the event, it's an all day commitment for us with event set up and then the actual event and post-event tear down. Buckingham generously let us spend the whole day working the event, where I assisted with logistics, catering, green room monitoring and set up, backstage work-flow and so much more.
What does this employee perk mean to you? I'm passionate about this non-profit and our cause. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, and even if I didn't have VTO hours, I would still volunteer for Country for a Cause. It's generous of Buckingham to allow us to spend a day giving back to the community, especially in a city where there's so much opportunity to do so. Plus, for Buckingham to encourage us to do that is amazing and speaks volumes of our company culture for us to leave work and give back to a cause that's important to us. Employees should all utilize this perk and reach out to others if they are looking for a cause to get involved with.
