Greater Good Blog

In June, we marked Arabella’s 14th birthday. After taking time to look inward and reflect on our journey (and eat some cake!) we turned our attention to the communities around us for our annual Volunteer Day. An Arabella tradition, Volunteer Day is a yearly event where we celebrate the birth of the firm and live our values by giving back in our communities and working with local nonprofits. Teams from each of our offices—DC, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco—chose a local organization to assist and left their desks to head out to field (in some cases, literally).

Our DC team made its way to the Capital Area Food Bank, the largest organization working to solve hunger in the Washington metro area. Each year, CAFB helps nearly 500,000 people access the food they need to stay healthy, both physically and emotionally. Importantly, CAFB also teaches volunteers and visitors about the reality of food insecurity, opening eyes to who is affected by hunger and how it impacts the daily lives of people across our nation. Together, our volunteers were able to sort and gather over 2,000 pounds of food that will eventually make its way to the hands of families throughout the DC area.

Arabella’s New York team volunteered at The Bridge, a rehabilitative services center that provides housing, healthcare, therapy, education, job placement, and treatment for substance abuse and mental illness to 2,800 men and women every year. Staff at The Bridge readily educated our team on the value of services like theirs in the lives of vulnerable people struggling with substance abuse or mental health disorders—services which are chronically underfunded and which often struggle to keep up with society’s needs. Our New York team proudly lent a hand painting their community center room, a place where everyone seeking assistance at The Bridge can mingle and get to know their neighbors.

Out in Chicago, local Arabellans were eager to help the Chicago Park District, the nation’s largest municipal park management organization, which oversees more than 8,800 acres of land. As an important community resource for affordable recreation, physical activity, and healthy living, local parks offered our Chicago team a chance to have a direct impact on their neighborhood. They spent the day hard at work at McGuane Park in Bridgeport, adding fiber to the play area to keep the park visually appealing as well as safe and comfortable for kids.

In San Francisco, our West Coast Arabella team headed out to the famous San Francisco Presidio, a landmark with centuries of history and hundreds of acres of natural space. The team got to work removing invasive plant life, which opened up room for native flora to retake its rightful space.

Our remote team members got in on the volunteer action, too. One took the photo above while volunteering at a farm in North Carolina via GCF Global, helping deliver fresh produce to local tables. Others engaged near their own homes.

Based on feedback from the day, this much was clear:

• As a B Corporation, Arabella Advisors is deeply committed to making a positive impact on our communities, as well as on our workers, customers, suppliers, and environment.
• As a group of people, we care deeply about the cities where we live and work. (We can even get a little competitive about it.)
• To celebrate our company’s birthday, we’re glad to volunteer our time–and eat some cake.