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Out Of The Office

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Volunteers paint the out door stage at Camp Cristina. The volunteers from Deloitte, an international professional services firm, helped spruce up the YMCA camp and plan summer activities for kids attending summer camp there.

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By SUSAN M. GREEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 13, 2008

RIVERVIEW - On a normal workday, Bill Snyder of Brandon would have had a telephone receiver attached to his ear, practically nonstop.

Anita Kulkarni of Tampa and Lucinda Zuaro of Citrus Park would have been poring over financial statements for clients of Deloitte, an international financial consulting firm with a branch in Tampa.

Instead, they spent the day June 6 in the hot Florida sun with yard tools and dirt clinging to their arms and legs at the YMCA's Camp Cristina.

"It's a great opportunity to have a day outside and get to help others," said Zuaro, who with Kulkarni was raking leaves and debris from a 5,000-foot hiking trail.

On June 6, Deloitte closed up shop across America for its ninth annual Impact Day and sent most of its U.S. employees on community service missions for nonprofit organizations.

About 120 employees from Deloitte's Tampa offices traded air-conditioned comfort and brain-drain jobs for a full day outdoors working on the facility's grounds, two days before hordes of children were scheduled to stream in for the first week of summer camp.

Volunteers installed dozens of shrubs in the Y-shaped planter at the front of the camp. With weed cutters and machetes, they took back the hiking trail from a jungle of overgrown plants. They painted the drab-brown backdrop on the outdoor drama stage a bright red and yellow and applied wood sealant to a 10-foot-high obstacle wall.

About a dozen huddled inside a Camp Cristina classroom to draft a personal finance curriculum that will be offered to teenagers in YMCA programs throughout Hillsborough County.

"It's a beautiful thing," said camp director Bryan Beckham. Normally, he said, the camp gets by with three summer staff members and two part-time maintenance employees, who do well to keep the 55-acre grounds mowed.

Many of the approximately 190 children a week who flock to Camp Cristina for summer programs are urban Tampa youths bused in by the camp's owner, Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA.

Beckham predicted that veteran campers will notice the improvements and feel important.

"They'll think, 'They the community are investing in us.'"

Deloitte executive Gary Keilty said company officials consulted with YMCA leaders before Impact Day to discuss potential projects. YMCA Chaplain Jay Lippy, who was Camp Cristina director from 1995 to '98, was instrumental in the project choice, Keilty said.

"We asked, 'What could we do to make an impact in one day?'" Keilty said. "Working at Camp Cristina ended up being what we decided to do."

Said Lippy: "When Gary called me, I thought, 'Man, could Camp Cristina ever use that help.'"

Besides the free labor, Deloitte chipped in about $11,000 worth of materials and solicited donations from Lexus of Tampa Bay, Lexus of Clearwater, Lowe's, Extreme Seal and EZ Mulch.

A prepared statement from Deloitte said 40,000 employees nationwide were encouraged to lock their offices and volunteer their services at nonprofit organizations June 6. Keilty said the date was chosen because weather is generally good in early June at locations across the United States.

Last year, the local Deloitte branch chose the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay for its project, Keilty said.

Snyder, who manages office services for Deloitte's Southeast region, helped direct landscaping efforts at Camp Cristina last week.

He said he used to volunteer regularly for the YMCA as a basketball and T-ball coach. He had been to Camp Cristina years ago and was happy to help spruce up the grounds.

"I love the kids," he said. "They're fun."

Zuaro said she was glad to pull trail maintenance duty because she likes to hike. Before volunteering, she knew nothing about Camp Cristina, which offers a swimming pool, canoeing, high ropes-climbing and other outdoor activities.

"I had no idea this was even here," she said. "I think it's great."

Kulkarni confessed to being less of an outdoors person but said she was happy to volunteer.

"It's a different experience," she said. "It gives you a lot of satisfaction, knowing you're helping somebody."

MORE ONLINE

Go online to see more photos of Deloitte's Impact Day, keyword: Camp Cristina. Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com. Go online to see more photos of Deloitte's Impact Day, keyword: Camp Cristina.

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