Corporate and Personal Volunteerism Team up with Conservation Campaigns.
As part of its 50th anniversary, PGAV Destinations, a global leader in the planning and design of unique destinations, has launched an innovative, new volunteer program for its 80+ destination designers.
“For five decades, we have worked with clients in the fields of education and conservation, creating places that inspire people to take action every day of their lives to improve the world’s habitats today and for future generations, ” said John Kemper, PGAV Destinations VP. “We want to continue this work by fostering volunteerism in our own employees and to nurture the spirit of conservation as a core value of PGAV’s culture.”
PGAVIA: Volunteers In Action is a committee-driven program to proactively promote and directly affect change related to 
environmentalism, conservation, and animal welfare. The initiative leverages three, unique approaches in facilitating volunteerism amongst PGAV Destinations’ staff:
- Corporate Volunteering: As a company, PGAV Destinations staff will contribute to local causes and efforts throughout the year. The firm is already pursuing the World Bird Sanctuary’s Eagle Day; the Open Space Council for the St. Louis Region’s Annual Stream Clean-up; and the Saint Louis Zoo’s Enrichment Workshop.
- Personal Volunteering: The VIA Committee and staff will generate awareness of local opportunities throughout PGAV’s staff. Bi-annual events and prize package raffles will celebrate the accumulation of volunteer-hour milestones.
- Conservation Awareness Campaigns: Each year, the VIA Committee will select an urgent environmental issue to educate PGAV staff about, generate opportunities for them to take action, and spread awareness of the issue throughout the local and destination design communities. 2015 will be the Year of the Elephant for PGAV Destinations, and the firm has already entered into the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Crushed Ivory Design Challenge. The program challenges designers to create a campaign to generate public awareness and generate action in preventing illegal poaching of elephants and the ivory trade which follows.
Organizations in Missouri and Illinois seeking volunteers for environmental, conservation, or animal welfare activities should contact PGAVIA Committee Head Stacey Tarpley at Stacey.Tarpley@PGAV.com. Accomplishments by the initiative can be followed on Twitter through #PGAVIA, the firm’s blog, or the Community page of the PGAV Destinations website.
