New OCCU employees tear it up at NextStep Recycling
Every two weeks, OCCU new hires spend their last afternoon of New Employee Orientation volunteering at a Eugene/Springfield area nonprofit. It is an important way for new employees to begin to understand and embrace OCCU’s brand pillar of community involvement.
Recently, nine new employees spent an afternoon at NextStep Recycling, an organization that recycles electronics to keep them out of the community waste stream. NextStep offers free recycling for area residents on all electronic items, from computers and phones to holiday lights and microwaves. Items that can be refurbished are readied and sold in NextStep’s onsite retail store, at 2101 W. 10th Ave., while those that can’t be refurbished are torn apart and recycled. NextStep has a no landfill policy, so all scrap is recycled.
NextStep offers training programs to help individuals develop job skills in recycling, computer building and retail. It also has a program to provide refurbished computers to low-income families.
“For me, the volunteering afternoon was a great experience. I learned a lot about recycling computers and since I have a very techy family, that’s useful information,” said Melody Kirk, a new employee in OCCU’s Member Contact Center. “I appreciate the community aspect of OCCU, and it was brilliant being able to see firsthand the impact our volunteering has on the community.”
NextStep is just one of several nonprofits where new employees volunteer during their first week at OCCU. Other recent volunteer activities have included soil-making at FOOD for Lane County’s GrassRoots Garden and sorting donated goods at St. Vincent de Paul locations.
