New York Accounting Firm’s Philanthropic Efforts Make a Difference in Long Island Community
Posted: October 11, 2011 Filed under: Accountants and Volunteer Work, accountants making a difference, Accounting, Accounting Firms, Accounting news, Accounting Professionals | Tags: accountants, accountants and volunteer work, accounting professionals, NYBKW Charitable Foundation Leave a comment »Lots of accounting firms make charitable contributions to help local organizations in their communities, but Nussbaum, Yates, Berg, Klein & Wolpow, LLP (NYBKW) in Melville, N.Y. has taken philanthropy to a whole new level by formalizing its volunteer efforts and founding the NYBKW Charitable Foundation.
NYBKW assists more than a dozen charitable organizations, including Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, the American Cancer Society, Toys for Children, the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center and the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge Long Island.
What makes this accounting firm unique is its approach to helping these organizations. Rather than just making a monetary contribution, NYBKW and its employees give their free time and take more of a participatory role.
NYBKW employees don’t just collect coats for the local mission during the winter months; they deliver them to the people who need them. They don’t just donate money to Toys for Children; they wrap the presents and hand them out. They don’t just purchase ice cream for the children’s hospital; employees give up their time and push and ice cream cart from door to door, bringing sick children ice cream treats.
“It becomes easy to just write a check, walk away and feel good about yourself,” said Walter Timoshenko, chief operating officer at NYBKW. “But actually physically wrapping presents and scooping ice cream is a whole different type of service.”
Timoshenko says that the NYBKW Charitable Foundation is a natural extension of the accounting firm’s mission statement, which is to “improve the welfare of men, women, and children, especially on Long Island.”
“People at our firm have always been involved in volunteer efforts, and many of the organizations we choose to become involved with have special meaning to our employees,” he said. “For example, one of our employees and his wife recently lost their infant son to Meconium Aspiration Syndrome, leading us to establish the Jordan Alex Dubrow Fund in his memory, which helped raise funds for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.”
And NYBKW employees are just as involved in volunteering as they are in finding worthy causes to support. Different employees will own various events, helping to plan, manage and execute all of the volunteer efforts that are needed to organize and participate in the events.
This is a commitment that everyone supports,” said Timoshenko, “and I think that really says something about our firm and our employees.”
Texas CPA Gives Back to Community through Volunteer Work
Posted: September 27, 2011 Filed under: Accountants and Volunteer Work, Accounting, Accounting Professionals, Texas Society of CPAs, TSCPA | Tags: accountants, accounting professionals, Texas Society of CPAs, volunteer work 1 Comment »In 2002, when CPA Michele Stanton was first asked to be a volunteer instructor and present a seminar for artists on taxes for Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA), she initially viewed it as a way to generate interest and acquire more clients for her Houston-based accounting practice.
Nearly ten years later, Stanton still volunteers for TALA, an organization that helps to meet the legal and accounting needs of artists and arts nonprofits throughout Texas, and has become a sought-after speaker and presenter for other local organizations, including The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston, which aims to expand opportunities for woman and girls to become independent, productive and financially stable.
Stanton, who was recently named TALA’s “Volunteer of the Quarter” for the months of January, February and March 2011, says that she enjoys helping people who don’t have backgrounds in numbers, business and money.
“The individuals I help through my volunteer work are people who really need it and don’t always have the same kind of resources that other people have,” said Stanton. “Some of them can’t afford a CPA and some just don’t have a solid understanding of basic accounting principles or how to apply them to their lives. It makes me feel good to help them.”
Despite being a busy CPA with her own accounting practice, Stanton volunteers for TALA at least four times per year, giving two lectures on tax and two on how to set up bookkeeping for artists and arts businesses.
She also gives one- to two one-hour lectures per month for The Women’s Resource of Greater Houston, rotating through ten different topics, including budgeting, saving, banking services and credit management, helping to teach women essential life skills and increase their financial literacy.
Stanton specializes in consulting on PCAOB and SEC matters and notes that she wouldn’t hesitate to expand her volunteer efforts through other local organizations.
“I’ve gotten great feedback on my seminars so far,” says Stanton. “I’ve had people tell me the presentations have been fabulous. It really makes me happy because I know I’m making a difference in their lives.”
