by Dana Collins – NAPO Member Since 2019
One of the first volunteer events I ever organized was arranging for 50 homeless children and an equal number of company employees to attend Ringling Bros. Circus at Madison Square Garden. I was fresh out of college and working without a blueprint, but I successfully pulled it off. The children were overjoyed, and the employees were grateful for the chance to make a difference. It was a transformational experience that has fueled my passion for organizing dozens of volunteer projects over the years.
I signed up for the NAPOCares Committee when I joined NAPO last year. I wanted to incorporate community service into my business model, so it seemed a natural fit. Committee Chair Brenda Tringali’s passion and dedication to the NAPOCares mission have been an inspiration to me and my business.
NAPOCares is an on-going initiative to promote how members give back each and every day either professionally or personally by sharing their time, treasures and/or talents with their local community.
All of us can show #NAPOCares in ways big and small. A simple way I give back is by sharing how to give unwanted items a second life, such as options for donating everything from shoes, denim, and coats, to Legos and Halloween candy. I promote sustainability by sharing information about Freecycle Days, ways to sell or donate electronics and where to donate items in my local community, Essex County, NJ. The simple act of replying to a question in a local Facebook group or Next Door post with useful information is a way to give back.
Another simple way to show #NAPOCares is by donating an auction prize to a local school or charity fundraiser. I typically donate a basket of organizing goodies and a gift certificate for a three-hour organizing session. I am happy to support local charities and have gained some fabulous clients as an added bonus. My latest donation will support Habitat for Humanity’s Hearts & Hammers Gala.
Whenever NAPO members give back to their community personally or professionally, use the hashtag #NAPOCares when posting on social media.
There are also bigger ways to show #NAPOCares. As a member of the NAPO Northern New Jersey (NAPO NNJ) Marketing Committee, I helped plan our chapter’s GOMonth activity. Our goal was to partner with a non-profit most in need of our collective time and talent. After evaluating several organizations, our committee selected La Casa de Don Pedro which provides essential social services to 50,000+ underserved residents in Greater Newark, New Jersey, and serves over 300 children each day in its Youth and Family Center.
A team of 14 professional organizers and productivity consultants from NAPO NNJ spent last Saturday, January 25, 2020, transforming cluttered classrooms and storage areas into organized havens of productivity. Our team implemented easy-to-maintain organizational solutions that the busy staff simply does not have the time, resources, or expertise to tackle.
Excited about our partnership, La Casa staff were ready to let go of items that no longer serve a purpose. Thanks to a generous offer from our NAPO NNJ business partner, The Junkluggers of Northern New Jersey, we had three guys on hand to haul away a full truck of discarded items.
Some of us worked in closets, others in classrooms, yet all of us lent our unique talents to achieve our shared goal of creating an atmosphere in which La Casa staff are free from the distractions that stem from cluttered space. In addition to maximizing efficiency and productivity, staff will be able to save money, reduce stress, and have more time to focus their energy on serving the students.
I love projects where a visible transformation can be achieved in a single day, such as painting a mural, beautifying a park, or disassembling scaffolding at a Habitat for Humanity site. But none of those experiences compares to the transformation our team accomplished at La Casa in just under five hours. We were a force to be reckoned with!
NAPO-NNJ Organizers at La Casa 
Members of the NAPO-NNJ Chapter 
Habitat for Humanity Site Build
I admire Ellen DeGeneres’ quest to spread kindness. In accepting her Golden Globes’ Lifetime Achievement Award she said, “All I’ve ever wanted to do is make people feel good and laugh, and there is no greater feeling than when someone tells me that I’ve made their day better….”
At the top of my inbox on Monday morning was an email from our friends at La Casa: “We want to thank you and your incredible team for a job well done! You have no idea how your team helped us on Saturday. They were all very warm and professional. We are happy and excited to show our kids their new classrooms. It was a pleasure working with you!”
Yes, Ellen. There is no greater feeling than when someone tells you you’ve made their day better.
About the author: Dana Collins is founder and chief organizing officer of ARRANGED, LLC, a professional organizing and productivity company in Northern New Jersey with a passion for helping people and businesses better manage their space, belongings, and time. Dana has been a NAPO member since 2019 and she holds NAPO Specialist Certificates in Residential Organizing and Workplace Productivity. She is a member of the NAPOCares Committee and the NAPO Northern New Jersey Chapter Marketing Committee. ARRANGED tailors its services to each client’s unique needs, personality, and lifestyle in order to turn their goals and good intentions into genuine solutions.
Dana, thanks for sharing. It sounds like a successfully executed volunteer initiative. Well Done!!!
Dana, This is a fantastic post! I enjoyed all the donation resources and that was a very cool video. Thanks for the encouragement to keep the volunteering going throughout the year.