BABA members give back with volunteering and donations
The Blue Ash Business Association (BABA) hosts a variety of events each year, from its luncheons and After Hours events (held on the first Thursday of each month, rotating throughout the year) to its ribbon cuttings and quarterly Coffee Talks. But official BABA events aren’t the only way the association interacts with the community.
“It’s always nice of organizations to give back to the community. BABA members have really been blessed and we’d like to pass along those blessings to others,” says Carol Venn, vice president of membership for BABA.
For example, for the last several years, BABA has volunteered at Red, White and Blue Ash. The organization staffs a beer booth from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., and all funds raised through the tip jars are donated to a local nonprofit. BABA members also volunteer at other city of Blue Ash events.
BABA gives back in other ways as well. It has helped the food pantry at the Blue Ash Elementary School with its Fill-a-Bag, Feed-a-Family fundraiser, in which items are collected, bagged or purchased for distribution at the school.
BABA is starting to work with Operation Give Back (OGB), a Blue Ash nonprofit that provides tutoring, food and support to children and parents in Blue Ash, Montgomery, Sharonville, Symmes Township and Sycamore Township. This includes sponsoring two of OGB’s events—the School Supply Giveaway in August, which provides students of Sycamore School District and Stewart Elementary in Sharonville with backpacks filled with new schools supplies, and the annual Holiday Store, which allows families to pick out new toys, pajamas, socks, hats and gloves, a gently new/used coat and a large Blessing Bag filled with food/personal care items for their children.
“Both events serve the children in need,” says Venn.
If you’d like to learn more about how BABA members connect Blue Ash’s business community to the community at large, contact Venn at 513-378-7653 or BABA President Steve Eroskey at 513-457-4757.
