The talented team of professionals at Rose, Snyder & Jacobs, by nature of being in the accounting and tax field, are often perceived as “number crunchers.” What isn’t always realized is that the qualitative nature of the numbers we work with is often more important than the actual value. We care about what the numbers mean and say about our clients and their businesses.
This Holiday season the numbers “738” and “29” represented so much more than numbers. It was a testament to the team building and collaboration within our firm to give back to our community.
During the first annual Toy Drive at Rose, Snyder & Jacobs, our employees split into five teams with a prize to be awarded to the team that brought in the most toys. Before long, strategies were being whispered in hallways and planning sessions were held in conference rooms.
Tax Senior, Jeni Park, reflected, “When Rose, Snyder & Jacobs announced the drive, I felt it was a great opportunity to participate…. Though we were all busy with year-end projections before the month ended, it was exciting to see everyone get involved with a little bit of friendly competition.”
However, what started as an ambiguous goal to collect a total of 10 trash-bags of toys in a team competition changed into a race to see how many toys RSJ could collect as a whole. The end result was 738 toys collected in 29 days.
According to David Shlecter, a tax associate, “This year’s toy drive has put a smile on my face. There was the initial good feeling of doing something good for those less fortunate, but it was way more than that. This holiday season, our firm did a great job at spreading the cheer. It was great to see so many people excited to share in the Holiday spirit of giving. I didn’t see a toy drive; I saw a collective desire to share.”
As planning is part of RSJ’s service, that forethought spread into the toy drive as well, as Julie Choi, our tax partner, expressed “Some people were detailed in making sure that the children could enjoy the toys immediately when they received them by bringing in batteries and additional memory sticks. I am so proud to be part of this wonderful group of people.”
The toy drive brought smiles not only to children, but also to our employees and partners. Many truly enjoyed the experience. As Alan Kazden, our partner shared “When I put every toy in the basket I could see the smile of a child that would be glad to have any gift for the holidays. I was truly a little boy in a toy store for thirty minutes. I knew I had this glowing look on my face, as the other customers looked at me like I was crazy. I was not counting the number of toys… at that moment I felt the true spirit of the holiday season. It is not about good food and receiving gifts, but putting smiles on the faces of our fellow humans.”
The toys collected were donated to Toys for Tots, Sparks of Love, L.A. Housing and a grassroots group called “Operation Skid Row” that give hand-to-hand donations to kids on Skid Row.
Rose, Snyder & Jacobs is very grateful for the service men and women who help collect the toys from various toy drives and distribute them to the charities. Both Marines and Firemen came to our office to help transport the toys to where they were needed most.
Our enrichment and heart warmth was felt throughout OUR entire firm. We look forward to this annual tradition and look forward to the daunting task of surpassing the record set in 2012!
