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 CAPTAIN CAROL Southard, director of special services at Seattle’s Adult Rehabilitation Center, instructs Safeco’s volunteers in creating a computerized thrift store ticket. |
Over eighty executives and employees of the Safeco Insurance Company spent an entire day at the Seattle ARC recently, working alongside beneficiaries in unloading trucks, sorting clothes, repairing worn out goods and discovering the important role of work therapy in the process of rehabilitating people whose lives have been consumed by addiction.
Seattle Advisory Board Chair David Kraft stimulated the visit. He is the corporate Comptroller of Safeco. During lunch the group heard from beneficiaries concerning the impact of the program on their lives.
Seattle ARC Administrator Major Sam Southard spoke to the group, and expressed his appreciation on behalf of the beneficiaries for their efforts during the day.
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“Today,” Southard said, “you helped rehabilitate unwanted and discarded items donated by the community. You did the same thing for these beneficiaries. You helped them live again. As you rubbed shoulders with these men, you gave them increased hope that the larger community had not forgotten them. They saw in you the importance of developing an orderly life.”
Safeco employees noted in their evaluation of the experience at the end of the day how much they personally had benefited. Increased awareness of the Army’s commitment to people, the purpose of the program, the professionalism evident and the depth of spiritual change within those who spoke at the luncheon touched them profoundly.
Kraft has suggested that another visit be scheduled in the future.
