ProVia takes leadership development very seriously
Giving away backpacks, jackets, clothing, school supplies and more is at the heart of ProVia's program, Dress for Success. The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 8 at ProVia, and any families with youth from kindergarten through sixth grade are invited to stop in at this free event to stock up on school items.
Throughout the past summer months, the members of the ProVia Leads class has been working hard to make sure area students are dressed for success as the new school year begins.
According to Bruce Hamsher, who heads up the ProVia Leads class, every year the group has classes, and as part of the process, the members have to create a fundraiser for a working service project to help someone or some group in the area.
Last year they chose to build a new soccer field in New Philadelphia for the growing Guatemalan community. This year that honor went to school children of Tuscarawas and Holmes counties.
“We have 13 members of the ProVia Leads class, and part of the goal each year is to develop a game plan to build a project and find ways to utilize their leadership skills to get it done,” Hamsher said. “They find the ways and means to get the project started and finalized, and that is part of building up their leadership skills.”
This is the fourth year of the leadership class. In its first two years, the group did a leadership training in-house at ProVia, then offered an area-wide leadership symposium at the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University Tuscarawas, which saw them bring in some nationally renowned speakers to promote positive leadership within the community.
This year they chose a broader population and instigated the Dress for Success Clothing Drive, a drive that has seen the employees of ProVia and other people from the community donate new socks and underwear; new or gently used backpacks, jackets, winter coats, gym shorts, athletic pants, shirts, purses, shoes and boots; and school supplies like crayons, markers, glue and more.
Collection began July 10 and ran through Aug. 31, and the Dress for Success climax celebration will be Saturday, Sept. 8 from 9 a.m. to noon in the lunch room of the corporate headquarters building located east of Walnut Creek on state Route 39.
During that time any eligible student who attends public schools in Tuscarawas and Holmes counties between kindergarten and sixth grade may come in to peruse the selections of clothing, gear and school materials to get dressed for success for the new school year.
In addition to plenty of clothing and school supply options, there also will be free haircuts and snack food available.
“We are going into this having absolutely no idea as to what to expect,” Hamsher said. “We are going to prepare for a lot and see what happens, but it is going to be fun finding out. This class has been amazing in the way they have gone about preparing for this.”
Hamsher said the class members have canvassed all of the elementary schools in Tuscarawas and Holmes counties to inform them of the event. Allowing the class members to invest and choose the people’s lives they will touch is something he leaves totally up to the members.
“The decision as to whom they help is totally up to them, and this year they wanted to help the area school systems,” Hamsher said. “This class has invested a lot of time and effort into this project, and they have tried to get some feedback as to who will be coming, but there is no way to tell for sure."
The leadership group has an annual budget income provided by ProVia, and with the funds available to them, they connected with several area thrift stores and were able to purchase new clothing.
The group also invited and challenged all of the ProVia employees to purchase new items for the drive. They were able to find some good bulk deals with area businesses for items like jackets and backpacks, so the items available to area students is vast.
While the entire program is created through ProVia and is ready to take place, Hamsher said if someone outside of the ProVia family really has a desire to help the cause, they may do so.
“We are ready to go, but if someone sees this as something they really feel led to help, we wouldn’t want to deny them, and we would gladly accept items,” Hamsher said.
Anyone wishing to donate new items can call Alan Beckley or Tiffany Miller at ProVia at 330-852-4711.