The Marketing Research Education Foundation (MREF) will host its second annual Month of Service for the marketing research and insights industry. Throughout the month of January 2024, MREF community members will organize service groups across multiple locations to help researchers make an impact.
To participate, you can choose to volunteer at your favorite local nonprofit organization, find a group of marketing research professionals in a service group near you or host your own service group and invite friends, family or colleagues to join! Volunteers are vital to the effectiveness of many nonprofits, and we can make a global impact when individuals and companies volunteer at the local level. Plus, volunteering is a great opportunity to meet other service-minded researchers near you.
During the first Month of Service in January 2023, researchers across the industry gave back to their communities by organizing service projects. Ipsos employees were among the participants, and volunteered with Lighthouse Youth and Family Services, a
Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization, by donating essential items for families and packaging these items for distribution. Scalehouse also spent time volunteering with a group of researchers at the Teacher Resource Center in Bronx, N.Y., to help sort donated school supplies for teachers in Title I schools.
Interested in participating in a service opportunity near you?
Visit www.mrgivesback.org/volunteer to view available volunteer groups, or sign up to organize a volunteer opportunity in your local community. For more information about participating in a volunteer opportunity or organizing one yourself, contact MREF Administrator Alana Gates at alana@mrgivesback.org.
Serve with the MREF in Costa Rica
As part of the Month of Service, the MREF will also be organizing a vision trip to Costa Rica to visit a 2023 grantee, the Hogar Montiel Program, which supports at-risk girls facing problems such as neglect, abandonment and abuse. The trip will take place January 25-27, 2024, and will enable MREF members to assist with projects and activities at the facility, including a field trip for the girls.
“The opportunity to be a part of the MREF has been extremely fulfilling both personally and professionally. My wife and I were blessed to be able to participate in a MREF Vision Trip to Costa Rica where we spent three days working with young girls who live in an orphanage. I look forward to going back,” said Brad Larson, founder/CEO, Ironwood Insights Group, and MREF executive board member.
For more information about the vision trip, please reach out to Alana Gates at alana@mrgivesback.org.