CES Gilbert: Making a Positive Change
“If you can make a positive change, you shouldn’t have to think about it. It should be reactionary,” said CES Gilbert Branch Manager Kris Stone.
So when Stone’s customer, Aura C Electric, told him that they support events for The Change Project every year, he jumped at the chance to help.
The Change Project
“I found The Change Project about a year and a half ago,” said Aura C Electric Owner Bob Sonne. “I’ve worked with the students and done a few workshops myself, too.”
“We’ve worked with Aura C Electric for over a year,” said Stone. “They come in here all of the time. We have a very good relationship; they’re great people. When they brought this organization to my attention, I said, ‘Say no more.’”
The Change Project’s mission is similar to Stone’s — to build strong communities by helping the people in them. The Change Project Founder and Chief Energy Officer Erica Ballesteros recently founded a nonprofit. The nonprofit, The Development of Altering Futures, Inc., has a more targeted purpose — reaching out to community youth.
“The project has a more targeted driving purpose of empowering today’s youth with the necessary soft skills and workforce readiness skills needed to maximize their true potential in life,” explained Ballesteros. “The sooner our youth discover how to utilize their unique values, cultivate their strengths, and expand their inner sense of worthiness, the sooner they will become meaningful contributors to this world.”
“It’s a youth project, basically getting kids at a young age to start thinking about what they want to do so they can be more prepared after graduating high school,” added Stone. “On top of that, some of these kids might not have financial backing or the same privileges as other kids, so this is a way to help them grow and show them different ways they can work toward better futures.”
CES Lends a Hand
The Change Project regularly hosts events for the kids in the program. This year, Stone and Aura C Electric teamed up to donate a table at one of them that helped more youth to attend the program.
“The local support has been nothing short of heartwarming,” said Ballesteros, “especially given all that we’ve suffered from this year. This pandemic has created a tragic landslide of mental, emotional, and educational issues that will undeniably become a massive detriment to the employability of our youth, but I get inspired by how quickly I see change.”
And Ballesteros has been able to see how the organization has helped people firsthand, not just now, but since its very start.
“I have so many touching examples of people growing and transforming before me,” said Ballesteros.
“It feels good helping charities like The Development of Altering Futures, Inc., that support what The Change Project has to offer,” said Stone simply. “I want to do more things like this — with this organization or with others. I’m proud to be a part of CES and here’s why. It’s not just a great job that supports me and my family. It’s a company with good core values that supports charities like The Development of Altering Futures, Inc.”