SOLitude’s Heart & SOL Award Honors Top Volunteer of 2017

Following a record-breaking year of volunteering and community outreach efforts through The SOLution program, SOLitude Lake Management awarded the company’s annual Heart & SOL award to Marketing & Outreach Coordinator Ann Marie Dori for her never-ending dedication to supporting and improving her local community in Hampton Roads, VA.

The Heart & SOL award recognizes one individual within the company each year who goes above and beyond in personal volunteering, inspiring others, and displaying a true commitment and passion for making the world a better place. Dori was awarded this month during SOLitude’s annual “SOL Summit” culture and team-building conference in Orlando, FL.

In 2017, Dori logged a total of 185 volunteering hours and participated in an array of volunteering events. She sup­ported the SPCA’s satellite cat adoption center in Virginia Beach on a weekly basis, led trash cleanups in her neighborhood, joined Lynnhaven River NOW’s trash cleanups, and was a Zone Captain for the 3rd year in a row for Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clean the Bay Day. She also played a pivotal role with coordinating a multi-phase environmental project at her community Rec Center property, which included installing 60 feet of living shoreline along the Pretty Lake watershed, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.

SOLitude tracks staff volunteering hours using a points system. Based on the number of volunteering points earned each year, staff are rewarded with gift cards of their choosing. Or, if team members decide to allocate their points towards a donation to a non-profit organization, SOLitude will match the contribution. This year, Dori directed her company-matched donation of $2,000 to the Do It For The Love Foundation, a wish-granting organization that brings people living with life-threatening illnesses, children with severe challenges and wounded veterans to live concerts.

“Ann Marie consistently exemplifies the qualities that The SOLution program was built upon, and her can-do attitude has made an enormous impact in her local community,” Marketing Director Tracy Fleming said. “She truly helps make the world a better place.”

The SOLution is a company-wide program that encourages the company and all employees to strive to “create a better world” through volunteerism, community outreach, sustainability and environmental consciousness. Since the program began in 2012, SOLitude has donated more than $255,000 in goods and in-kind services and contributed 9,457 volunteer hours to our local communities across the country. To participate or share a non-profit’s goals for consideration in The SOLution, visit www.solitudelakemanagement.com/solution.