Community Corner

Microsoft Workers Take Time to Volunteer

Employees of the Bridgewater store volunteer at the YMCA.

The Somerset Valley YMCA hosted 36 volunteers from Microsoft’s retail store at the branch on May 4.

“Our employees are having a great experience. Being actively involved in the community is a key part of how Microsoft Store operates. We are thrilled to be at the Bridgewater Y,” said Nicole D. Owens, community development specialist with the Microsoft Store.

This is the first retail location for Microsoft in New Jersey and in the Northeast. Even before it opens its doors, all of the Bridgewater Microsoft Store staff spent a full day with SVY doing various projects—expanding the sand volley ball court, planting flower beds, building a deck in the high ropes area and re-painting the pavilion’s picnic tables and Ga-Ga Ball court in bright colors.

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Dylan Sladky, a transplant to New Jersey from Seattle, was a member of the Portland, Oregon YMCA as a child. 

“I was a student from kindergarten through third grade, and also learned to swim at the Y," he said. "I love working for a company that participates locally and am thrilled to be at the Y again."

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“Most of us have a Y story, and sharing that story is key to our ability to take the Y experience outside our branch walls,” said Natalie Krauser McCarthy, director of development. "SVY cannot ask for better ambassadors than the Microsoft volunteers, as each expressed a willingness to continue to give back even after today’s event."


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