ELBA’s first Volunteer of the Month for 2019 is Mandeep Plaha of Wells Fargo! Mandeep organised a Supermarket Sweep challenge for her team with Community Food Enterprise, a charity that helps ensure east London communities have access to healthy food.

Mandeep organised the volunteering day so her team could help the community, build their teamwork skills and get to know each other better. Mandeep’s efficiency and friendliness meant the planning went smoothly, and the community partner was very pleased with the team’s effort and enthusiasm on the day.

We caught up with Mandeep to ask her about her experience.

1) Why did you volunteer?
The purpose of the event was two-fold. We wanted our Wells Fargo graduates to experience working in a team – so we could use this event as a basis for our discussions on what it takes to build a successful team – but we also wanted to give something back to the community, help those in need in a location very close to our office. All whilst having fun!

2) What did you gain from your volunteering experience?
This volunteering event allowed Wells Fargo’s graduates to get involved with new things and develop technical, social, interpersonal skills that enables them to do more, which is difficult to achieve in a classroom environment.

3) Would you recommend volunteering to a colleague and if so, why?
I would highly recommend volunteer work as it helps you gain valuable experiences – such as developing your skills and building self-confidence. Also, volunteering and connecting with the local community is valued at Wells Fargo. Through community outreach, volunteering gives you a sense of purpose and lifts up the spirits of team members you are working with.


Thank you Mandeep for your hard work!