Illinois North Dispatch Team Volunteers with Braveheart

Cold and snowy weather is usually an excuse to stay indoors, but that’s not the case for Ozinga’s Illinois North dispatch team. February is typically a slower month in the construction industry, so it’s the perfect time to get some of our busiest coworkers out of the office to make a positive impact on the surrounding community. The team recently took advantage of the lower temps to volunteer at the Bravehearts Therapeutic Riding & Educational Center in Harvard and Poplar Grove, Illinois.

“Any volunteer hours, volunteer time—any kind of effort put in by anybody who’s volunteering is tremendously helpful,” said Bravehearts Volunteer Coordinator Breanne Lindsay. “We run on volunteers here at Bravehearts. It takes a lot of manpower to keep two farms going 24 hours a day.”

Illinois North Dispatch Manager Chad Smits knows that firsthand. He’s been volunteering at Bravehearts, a non-profit organization that provides speech physical therapy and occupational therapy, therapeutic riding and equine-assisted psychotherapy to veterans and their immediate family members, for more than a decade.

Over two days at each of the Bravehearts locations, Smits and his team cleaned out the horse stalls, swept up and helped groom horses. It was a great opportunity to get out from behind their desks and accomplish something as a team.

“This sort of thing is what Ozinga stands for; it’s why we get up and come to work every day—to serve the people around us and make a difference in the community,” said Smits. “It checked so many boxes, for the company, for me personally and for my staff.”

Learn more in the video below.