Every Monday, Chinnu Meher-Homji (shown, center) starts her week helping abused children and their families at Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s Children’s Advocacy Center. Some are new clients awaiting forensic interviews and others are familiar young faces returning for weekly therapy appointments. Regardless of their story, as a Volunteer, Chinnu is there to help them feel welcomed and safe.

“Volunteering with Child Advocates of Fort Bend is something I’d wanted to do for a long time. Now that I have the time to do it, it’s the perfect place for me to give back to the community. I love the people and especially helping the children,” said Chinnu.

Chinnu retired from ExxonMobil in early 2016 and has been volunteering in the Children’s Advocacy Center since August of last year. In that time, she’s already logged many hours that are eligible to be matched by her former employer. Child Advocates of Fort Bend already benefits greatly from her donated time and we are very grateful that she took the time to inquire about matching her contributions with corporate gifts.

Each year, companies and businesses across the country support nonprofits by distributing hundreds of millions of dollars in employee matching gift donations. These matches can be for time, monetary gifts made by individual employees (current or retired), or even a combination thereof. Usually associated with corporate grant makers, employee matching gifts can be dollar-for-dollar, however, some companies will give back double or even triple the original donation. Since every company sets up its own set of rules, it’s a good idea to check in with the administrative offices or human resources to find out how the contributions you are already making can go the extra mile. If you are making gifts straight from your paycheck, your company may already have a matching gifts program set up in tandem with its employee giving campaign.

We are grateful to the thousands of companies that provide payroll giving and matching gifts as part of their corporate philanthropy program. Allstate, AT&T, BASF Corporation, Chevron, Ecolab, ExxonMobil, Fluor, Fort Bend society of Commercial Realtors, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Shell Oil, UBS Financial Services, Inc., United Health Group and Wells Fargo are currently matching time and money for volunteers and donors of Child Advocates of Fort Bend. Please inquire with your employer today, even if you are now retired. Every dollar counts toward helping the growing number of children in need of our help.