(Ashland, Ore.) – The team at Standing Stone Brewing Company is devoting the afternoon on Tuesday, November 18th to an employee volunteer day with the Ashland Emergency Food Bank. The craft brewery is organizing the project as part of their ‘Cheers to Health’ wellness program, which aims to improve employees’ well-being though education, events and stress reduction. The brewery’s staff will work throughout the afternoon from 12:30-4:30pm, erecting shelves for the nonprofit’s walk-in refrigerator and stocking donated food.
Standing Stone has joined 200 other businesses in the U.S. by participating in the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Work@Health Program. Through this employer-based training program the brewpub is creating strategies to prevent chronic illness and reduce injuries for staff and their families. Standing Stone has dedicated nine months of training and development to create an in-house version of the program, ‘Cheers to Health.’
Through the program, the brewpub endeavors to lessen stress for employees and their families with events and benefits that address preventing physical strain, decreasing financial anxiety, and tapping into relaxation techniques – including socializing with coworkers and volunteering – to improve the overall health of the team. So far the brewery has hosted a movie night, in-house chair massages, yoga vouchers, training to prevent workplace injury, basic finance classes, and emergency preparedness education. The employee volunteer project with the Ashland Emergency Food Bank is the final event for the current phase of the ‘Cheers to Health’ program.
“There are all sorts of studies that show how being part of our community and helping others decreases stress and lowers blood pressure,” says Standing Stone server Carolyn Stone. “Volunteering increases our health and happiness.” The Ashland Emergency Food Bank provides emergency food supplies, without charge, to individuals and families in the Ashland/Talent area. The nonprofit benefits from donations of food and money from local individuals, faith groups, businesses, service organizations, and grants from private foundations. Recently, the organization acquired sturdy, metal shelving to replace wood shelving in their cooler, and Standing Stone workers will spend the day constructing and installing the new shelving units, and stocking goods.
The CDC’s Work@Health program aims to increase the understanding of training needs of employers, as well as improving employers’ level of awareness of workplace health programs. Their curriculum also seeks to grow the number of workplace health programs in the U.S., and promoting peer-to-peer community-based cooperation and mentoring.
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