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Firm Management

Midwest CPA Societies Give Back During Annual Days of Service

Members of the Illinois CPA Society and the Indiana CPA Society both took to their communities for their respective society’s annual Day of Service, held a week apart.

September may be the time for pumpkin lattes and fall clothing, but it’s also the time for giving back, as two Midwest CPA societies showed last month. Members of the Illinois CPA Society and the Indiana CPA Society both took to their communities for their respective society’s annual Day of Service, held a week apart.

Supporting the communities where they work and live is an important initiative for many accounting professionals, and each year hundreds of CPAs sign up for various volunteer projects and services. On September 19, more than 1,100 CPAs gave back in the communities of Champaign-Urbana, Springfield, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria and the greater Chicagoland area. ICPAS President and CEO Todd Shapiro met with members at their selected organizations, traveling from Aurora to Park City, Illinois.

“I put 181 miles on my car driving around in the Chicagoland area that day alone, but this is one of the most uplifting things I’ve ever been involved in. It’s a great way for CPAs to give back and be full participants in their communities,” said Shapiro.

Members were encouraged to sign up, either individually or as a group. More than 30 firms signed up as a group donating their time and resources to several organizations. Some of the organizations where members volunteered included Feed My Starving Children, cancer organizations, food banks, fundraisers for heart disease, and organizations supporting children with Down syndrome. One group also volunteered at a family’s home, painting and performing yard work.

“It’s important to me that people know what we’re trying to accomplish with CPA Day of Service,” said Shapiro. “This program helps reinforce the profession’s commitment to the great Illinois communities in which we live, work and play.”

Across the state line, more than 300 CPAs rallied to show support in their Indiana neighborhoods for INCPAS’ 12th annual Day of Service. Since the program was started in 2003, the state CPA society has completed nearly 450 service projects at food pantries, Habitat for Humanity, animal shelters and other organizations.

“Our day of service is a great way not only for CPAs to serve their communities, but also to expose the community to the CPA profession. It really helps show the community how much they care about the communities where they live and work,” Ali Paul, Leadership & Outreach Manager, INCPAS.

About six years ago, INCPAS changed the sign up process so that firms and members could identify their own service opportunities instead of volunteering for one the society chose. As a result, many firms now volunteer for causes and organizations that they are passionate about, with some firms choosing to serve at the same place every year, while others choose a different project each year.

This year, almost 20 INCPAS members from Crowe Horwath LLP and IPFW Accounting Society volunteered at Euell Wilson Community Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  

“We had a great time and we were happy to be able to have the opportunity to give back to the community. The Euell Wilson Center is doing a tremendous job of helping children – and in a lot of cases at-risk children – have a safe haven after school and in the summer while providing nutritious meals and educational opportunities. We are glad we could take part in what they do for a day,” said Jason Warner, CPA, Crowe Horwath LLP.

In addition to serving their communities, both the Illinois CPA Society and the Indiana CPA Society use the Day of Service as an opportunity to reach out to young professionals. Through INCPAS’ student member program, local schools and firms are able to partner and help interested students identify firms they can volunteer with. ICPAS also encourages its younger members to identify causes and organizations they would like to give back to.

“It’s one of our goals to get our young professionals involved. That is also something that we hear from them: they do want to give back and this is the perfect avenue for that,” said Shapiro.