Nearly 200 Dallas-area TI employees wrestled poverty, poor health and education gaps to the ground at the company's Volunteer Mania community outreach event.

Every year, TI employees worldwide improve the lives of people living in their local communities by serving as volunteers. These efforts are formally recognized during National Volunteer Week, which took place April 22-26.

Trisha Cunningham, TI's chief citizenship officer, said there is a business case for volunteering — to build leadership, retain employees, to build teamwork and morale and more.

"Volunteerism is really just good business," she said. "Strong companies build strong communities and strong communities build strong companies."

On April 22, TI announced the winners of the 2013 TI Founders Community Service Awards.

This year, 12 individuals and 3 teams of volunteers received awards. For each award, TI will give $1,000 to the nonprofit agency that the volunteers served.

The wrestling-themed Volunteer Mania event at TI highlighted community involvement.

Wrestling community problems
Also to celebrate National Volunteer Week, TI highlighted employee engagement in the Dallas area with a wresting-themed community outreach event called "Volunteer Mania," where nearly 200 Dallas-area TI employees wrestled poverty, poor health and education gaps.

At the event Kent Novak, TI senior vice president and general manager of DLP Products and Steve Lyle, TI's chief diversity officer and director of Engineering Workforce Development, provided instruction on the social gaps in the community and their solutions.

"At TI, we are trying to build a future and that future includes the communities that surround our operations," Novak said. "Being a good corporate citizen inspires our employees, creates company pride and has a positive impact on our business."

Lyle shared information about social gaps and the different ways education can serve as a great equalizer.

"TI is a company that depends on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-ready students and students from all walks of life must succeed in order to build a stronger pipeline of talent for the current and future workforce," he said.

Representatives from more than 25 community organizations attended the event and set up booths so employees could explore the ways they can put their skills to best use as a community volunteer.

Also during the event, 50 fifth grade students from nearby Hamilton Part Elementary who are TI Robotics Afterschool Program participants were each given a donated bag that included science experiment kits and educational workbooks to be used in the summer.

Incentivizing volunteerism
Last year, TI started a volunteer incentive program to motivate employees and retirees in the U.S. to become even more involved in their communities. The program contributes funds to local nonprofits by matching volunteer hours that employees give to charitable organizations with a monetary donation from the TI Foundation.

By participating in the program, the TI Foundation makes a contribution of $250 to an eligible nonprofit organization for every 20 hours volunteered, up to $1,000. About 300 employees took advantage of the program last year, generating nearly $300,000 for nonprofits that they would not have otherwise received.

Employees also took advantage last year of TI's matching gift program. Employees' gifts of up to $10,000 for arts and culture and up to $10,000 for schools are matched by the TI Foundation. This program accounted for about $2 million in donations to schools and arts groups last year.

Watch footage from Volunteer Mania.

The Dallas Business Journal recently covered TI's volunteer activities.