Making Magic By Giving Back

Chris is passionate about advocating for and providing competent services to Veterans and their families. He volunteers for the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 12041, in Lytle, TX, where he helps veterans to navigate the complicated benefits landscape by providing and advocating for effective wellness and daily living services. He currently serves as the Senior Vice Commander for the Post. On top of that, Chris volunteers with the Voice of Democracy, Patriots Pen, and Eagle Scout Scholarships; helps feed the homeless, and works with Gold Star and WilCo Blue Star Mothers. He is a huge advocate for Irreverent Warriors, bringing veterans together using humor and camaraderie to improve mental health and prevent veteran suicide.

Chris was recognized by the VFW at the highest level when he was selected as National Aide de Camp for the National Commander. He’s also been recognized as a VFW All American/All-State Recipient (2018-2021) and All American/All-State Senior Vice Commander (2021-2022).

Phil volunteers for the Society of American Military Engineers Northern Virginia Post Emergency Preparedness and Infrastructure Resilience Committee, having served as both the Chair and the 2nd Vice President. The EPIR Committee supports SAME goals in resilience in the Northern Virginia region by contributing to government and private sector collaboration to minimize the impacts of and enhance effective response to natural or manufactured threats. Phil served as the Board of Directors President for the Veteran Project Manager Mentor Alliance for part of 2021. VPMMA is a non-profit empowering and equipping military service members, veterans, and spouses to achieve project management career greatness through mentoring and professional development.

In addition, here at Parsons, Phil assists MILVET efforts to align qualified transitioning military members with project management fellowship (SkillBridge) positions. He introduced MILVET leadership to Vets2PM to provide pathways to transitioning military members to attain PMP during Parsons fellowship.

W.J.’s commitment to inspiring and mentoring youth considering careers in the STEM field is impressive! His approach is to engage the students with hands-on, fun activities; he co-leads a group of middle and high school students in a Saturday STEM academy. He hopes to help those students understand how vital the STEM field is to the world in terms of innovation and health. He educates the students about college, internships, and roles in a STEM field and has arranged visits to HBCUs. While visiting his college alma mater, Clemson University, W.J. also spoke to potential students looking to pursue a Masters or Ph.D. degree in a STEM-related field.

W.J. consistently volunteers 15 hours per week, using his skills, knowledge, and connections to impact youth. The Aspire 2 Inspire (A2I) Foundation recently awarded him with a special superior service award for his continuous work for the organization and the countless hours of work that he selflessly performs in his community.

Irene holds the Youth Rowing Foundation in Alabama near and dear to her heart. As a college student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, she received much-needed tuition assistance to participate in the Division 1 Women’s Rowing program. Now she gives back by coaching high school females to compete, leading them in recent years to both Youth Regional and National Championships. She encourages the girls to become involved and stick with it, not only because it impacts the confidence and overall health of the girls, but because the girls have a 90% chance of receiving Division 1 scholarship funding, based on Division 1 Universities attempting to balance the inequities in Title IX allocations. 100% of the girls Irene has coached have gone to college.

Irene was thrilled to be a Volunteer of the Year award winner and said that the donated funds will be used toward equipment funding, program finances, and expenses related to athlete scholarships for the Foundation, noting that their current equipment is vintage 1990s). 

As a paramedic and part of a special operations medical team, David selflessly volunteered an amazing 1,200 hours during 2021 to help administer COVID-19 vaccinations and respond to 911 calls in Charles County, MD. Despite health risks, David worked with the MEDIC ONE special operations team to collectively administer over 250,000 vaccinations during the past 14 months. The team created vaccination sites in a baseball stadium, high schools, and college gymnasiums. They visited housebound patients who had no means to get to a clinic, and special case sites to ensure there was full and equal opportunity for tribal and cultural groups of the population. They worked side by side with the National Guard and the Department of Health, responding to 911 calls that were overwhelming the local medical community.

David received a dedication award from CCMICU for his work with MEDIC ONE and his 15 years of service as a paramedic in the community. He recently moved to Washington State where he continues to work for Parsons and is now a Paramedic/Firefighter with Walla Walla County Fire District 4.

Andrew served as a volunteer firefighter in his community throughout 2021, working a total of 625 volunteer hours. His team not only responded to fires, medical calls, and local/regional disasters, they answered HAZMAT calls, which require immediate action to prevent further damage. His department responded to more than 2,000 calls last year.

New to firefighting, Andrew received the Rookie of the Year – Firefighter award for 2021. Andrew also implemented a disaster response team to respond to a tornado and helped to implement rookie/senior firefighter monthly training.

Anna is the Parsons face of our 48in48 volunteer involvement and has singlehandedly convinced dozens of employees with no website development experience at all to participate in 48in48 weekends and build successful websites. 48in48 organizes 48-hour weekend hackathons where teams build attractive, functional websites for non-profits to increase public engagement and donations. Anna first introduced 48in48 to Parsons years ago while acting as a project manager for a single team. Since then, Anna has managed 18 site builds over 6 volunteer event weekends.

Throughout the years Parsons and 48in48 have helped build websites for food banks; art theaters; and foundations that support underserved youth, LBGTQ+ community members, victims of bullying, and those in need of affordable housing, to name a few. Anna has been highlighted by 48in48 as a spectacular volunteer – and we agree!

Parsons has supported the 24 Foundation since 2018, and last year Chuck was asked to lead the 24 Hours of Booty fundraising team and event in Charlotte, NC. The 24 Foundation supports cancer survivorship programs in the Carolinas, raising awareness of the challenges and impact of cancer treatment, support logistics, and recovery programs.

Chuck worked tirelessly, volunteering his time to reach out to employees and alumni alike to join the team. To raise awareness for the event, he organized events at the Charlotte office and at local establishments. He developed videos in an effort to make the 24 Foundation mission relatable and to inspire membership and fundraising action. From signage, social media, and logistics, he ensured that all elements of the actual 24 Hours of Booty event were planned, coordinated, and executed safely. His efforts were a total success – the team raised over $43,000 to support the 24 Foundation!