GREENFIELD — On a normal weekday morning, Julie Beck is at her desk at Elanco Animal Health poring over sales and market-share data.
But on this particular morning, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and a pink Elanco baseball cap with a screwdriver in hand, she knelt over instructions and parts as she assembled a cabinet at the offices of Hancock County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates.
On the other side of CASA’s local headquarters, Beck’s colleague, Jessica Smith, painted a bathroom floor. Shannon Hagist dusted woodwork. Amy Marr vacuumed.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Elanco, which spun off from Eli Lilly and Co. just over a year ago, also spun off the spirit of its former parent company’s annual volunteer day. The animal health company’s employees at its Greenfield headquarters and throughout the world took part in their first Day of Purpose by contributing their time and efforts at organizations in their communities.
Ashley Truebenbach, an Elanco employee, said Day of Purpose was inspired by Eli Lilly and Co.’s annual Day of Service.
“Employees leave their desk, leave their office, disconnect and go out and serve the community,” she said.
Greenfield-based Elanco has more than 5,000 employees across the globe, and a recent acquisition will make it the second-largest animal health company in the world.
Truebenbach said the company’s Greenfield employees volunteered all over the area on Oct. 14, including at the humane society and food pantry.
At the local CASA office, Elanco took on duties including cleaning, painting and organizing.
CASA oversees volunteers who represent children who have had to be removed from their homes and advocate for them at court hearings.
Beck said her and her fellow Elanco employees’ efforts allow CASA to concentrate more on its mission.
“If we can come one day a year and do the things that they don’t have time to do and it allows them to focus on the kids, then that’s ideal,” she said.
Elanco employees also regularly help out at the Hancock Food Pantry, and the company allows employees to take a half day per quarter to volunteer on their own, Beck added.
With a can of furniture polish in one hand and a duster in the other, Hagist said she’s worked for Elanco for almost 11 years and participated in Day of Service before the companies’ separation. She’s volunteered on projects from painting floors at a food pantry to erecting fences at an animal shelter and wanted to contribute at CASA this year because of her admiration for what the organization does.
“I think it’s fantastic that they are doing what they’re doing, and it’s one of the reasons I picked this one over many of the other opportunities to volunteer today,” she said as she wiped down a large wooden door in the CASA office.
Cheryl Seelig, CASA coordinator for Hancock County, said there’s been a lot to do since the organization moved in June from the basement to the top floor of the Memorial Building in downtown Greenfield. She and another employee make up the entire staff of the nonprofit, which oversees about 30 volunteers and has about 100 local children waiting for an advocate.
Seelig called the Elanco employees’ efforts “a dream come true.”
“We’re not able to go out and just hire people to come out and work with us,” she said. “We’re kept busy all the time. The list that we gave them has been piling up for months.”
She encourages anyone interested in volunteering as an advocate to call the CASA office at 317-477-0034.
“It’s so wonderful to be able to be a part of the child’s life,” Seelig said. “I know that we’re making a difference in their life.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Pull Quote” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
"If we can come one day a year and do the things that they don’t have time to do and it allows them to focus on the kids, then that’s ideal."
Julie Beck
Elanco Animal Health
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”What to volunteer?” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Those interested in volunteering with Court Appointed Special Advocates in Hancock County are encouraged to call the local CASA office at 317-477-0034.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
