Get to Know WoodmenLife’s Partner Organization: Keep Omaha Beautiful

At WoodmenLife, community involvement is in our DNA. Our associates enjoy giving back, and WoodmenLife supports their passion by offering paid time off for volunteering. Many choose to use that time to work with one of our eight partner organizations.

Learn more about one of those organizations, Keep Omaha Beautiful, as told by the WoodmenLife team leader Amanda Phillips.

Tell us a little about Keep Omaha Beautiful.

Keep Omaha Beautiful is a nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and educating the community about the environment and keeping our city clean and environmentally safe.

How does Keep Omaha Beautiful align with WoodmenLife and our values?

One of WoodmenLife’s values is community. Since Keep Omaha Beautiful’s main objective is to beautify our community, it aligns perfectly!

Why is Keep Omaha Beautiful important to you personally?

Keep Omaha Beautiful is important to me because Omaha has always been my home, and I take pride in beautifying our city.

What inspired you to start volunteering in your community?

The feeling I get after volunteering has inspired me to volunteer more in my community. Seeing how you make a difference in the lives of other people, to animals and in your community is truly a special feeling.

What kind of work do WoodmenLife volunteers do for Keep Omaha Beautiful?

There are two main activities we do: litter cleanups and storm drain cleanups. Litter cleanups are the main events we’ve done. I also try to incorporate a storm drain cleanup event occasionally. Storm drain cleanups are more challenging! With this activity, volunteers clear the storm drain of debris, label it with a “No Dumping” decal and distribute educational flyers to nearby residences.

Tell us a little about how you feel after completing a volunteer shift.

I feel accomplished! When you can physically see — or feel — how full the garbage bag is, you can see what a difference you’ve made.

Can you talk a little about the camaraderie among WoodmenLife associates as they volunteer together?

I feel like associates are truly able to connect and engage with each other during Keep Omaha Beautiful volunteer events. I have personally gotten to know and become friends with people in divisions that I would normally not get the chance to interact with during the workday. We split up into smaller groups to tackle different areas, and that creates more socialization and camaraderie among the volunteers.

Are there any particularly memorable moments from your time working with Keep Omaha Beautiful?

Yes! Each time we do a litter cleanup, we like to debrief and find out who found the most interesting piece of litter during the volunteer event. Some of my personal favorites were a half of a bowling ball, a pool noodle and whole Pop-Tart.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Volunteering with Keep Omaha Beautiful is a great way to get outdoors and see the beauty of our city while working together to beautify it even more.

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