The Statistics Are In: Saltmarsh Exceeds Its Community Service Goal During 75th Anniversary in 2019

1/24/2020 - By Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund

While honoring our 75th anniversary during 2019, we achieved 2,306 additional community service hours, 362 hours past our goal of 1,944 hours to mark the year we were founded.

“Service is at the core of our business, and it was truly an honor to give back in our communities across Florida and Tennessee to bring greater awareness to the many needs and organizations working to make a difference,” said Lee Bell, Saltmarsh president. “At the beginning of the year, we set out to achieve an additional 1,944 community service hours to honor our founding 75 years ago in 1944, and by mid-September, we had surpassed that goal and kept going to continue to give back to numerous community and charitable projects.

“I continue to be impressed with the transformation of our team as a result of their enthusiasm for our service challenge,” said Bell. “As the year progressed, we noticed our team was more engaged at the office and within their local communities. Giving back has had a positive effect on our firm all around and we look forward to making this a tradition at our firm for years to come.”

Bell said that 93 employees, more than two thirds of the firm’s staff, gave their time during the 1,944-hour challenge in 2019.

HIGHLIGHTS OF GIVING BACK

As part of the year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary, Florida’s leading CPA and financial consulting firm scheduled monthly community service projects across the region.

The firm’s construction practice kicked off the holiday season in November with its “Demolishing Hunger” supply drive. Volunteers from offices in Tampa, Orlando, Fort Walton Beach and Pensacola gathered baby supplies, non-perishable food, toiletries and gently used clothing to donate to Opportunity Place, Sharing & Caring, Feeding Tampa Bay and Loaves & Fishes Soup Kitchen. The supply drive concluded with a week of giving back across the firm’s many regional offices. The team in Pensacola served dinner to more than 150 shelter families and members of the public, while employees of the firm’s Tampa office served lunch at the Trinity Café, a free, full-service restaurant for those in need throughout the greater Tampa area, sponsored by Feeding Tampa Bay.

In October, Saltmarsh’s Nashville, Tenn., office participated in the Greater Nashville MORE THAN PINK Walk hosted by Susan G. Komen Central Tennessee. Through their participation, the team helped increase awareness and connection to the organization’s work beyond breast cancer awareness, enabling people who want to do more for their communities, more for those living with breast cancer and more for research and action to find the cures.

Saltmarsh employees capitalized on the back-to-school spirit by hosting a school supply drive to benefit Guardian ad Litem circuits across the State of Florida. Team members, clients and local communities provided 80 children across the state with the necessary supplies to start the new school year.

In June, the Saltmarsh team focused on community building, and spent a day at Gulf Coast Kid’s House where they cleaned therapy rooms, installed an organization system for puppets and assisted staff with an office move. Gulf Coast Kid’s House, also a Saltmarsh client, is a children’s advocacy center that serves children in Escambia County that facilitates the investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, while promoting child abuse prevention awareness through community education.

With Saltmarsh’s large construction client base, the Tampa office’s audit staff spent a day in late June helping to build a home for a family in the area with Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County. In a record-breaking four hours, the team, along with homeowner candidates, painted the exterior of the home and installed hurricane shutters. Habitat for Humanity has been creating homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals and families since 1985 and has served more than 700 families to date in the Pinellas and West Pasco counties.

Saltmarsh kicked off 2019 with a firmwide day of service across all office locations, and a “Say Yes to Your Dress” drive to benefit the GFWC South Baldwin Women’s Club by calling for donations of new and gently used prom gowns, formal dresses, shoes, jewelry and accessories for the club’s Prom Closet event. The event helps young ladies of South Baldwin County who would like to attend their prom, but do not have the resources to purchase a dress. With the help of local communities, Saltmarsh collected more than 65 dresses, along with shoes and accessories.

View The Road to 1,944 Service Hours Album!

ABOUT SALTMARSH, CLEAVELAND & GUND
Founded in 1944, Saltmarsh celebrated its 75th anniversary throughout 2019. The firm is one of the largest CPA-led business advisory firms in the Southeast, serving clients throughout the U.S. and worldwide with offices from Florida to Tennessee. The firm offers a full range of professional services, including specialized consulting services for many industries and high net worth individuals through Saltmarsh Financial Advisors, LLC. The firm is an independent member of the BDO Alliance USA, which provides access to national resources to better serve clients. Saltmarsh has been recognized as one of the Top 200 Firms in the U.S. by Inside Public Accounting and as a Regional Leader by Accounting Today.

For more information, please visit www.saltmarshcpa.com or call (800) 477-7458.