There are many ways to celebrate an anniversary. In the past, most companies hired a caterer and invited customers to a reception. The head of the organization usually said a few words about the company’s growth, expressed gratitude to long-time customers, and toasted the future.

We thought about just such an event to celebrate our Ann Arbor office’s 25th anniversary. But, when we actually sat down as a group to decide what to do, a party in these difficult financial times just didn’t feel right.

The question was how to celebrate when clients are worried about their businesses, the state is in a financial difficulty, and the shelves at the local food bank are low? We decided to “pay it forward.” Benjamin Franklin is said to have described this concept of doing good works for others to repay the good fortune you enjoy.

We wanted to give back and decided to celebrate by working with 25 nonprofit organizations in our community. We dubbed our plan “25 for 25.“ While the initiative is open to all types of volunteer projects, we focused primarily on assisting non-profits which help families, children, and veterans.

Miller Canfield has always supported local charitable and nonprofit organizations — by volunteering, serving on boards, and making financial contributions. We will continue these efforts. However, the emphasis of “25 for 25” is more hands on. The people in our Ann Arbor office wanted to work with nonprofits on a more personal level. Volunteer teams, led by employees at all levels, are working side-by-side with nonprofits to make a positive impact.

Volunteering takes more time and effort than writing a check — but we have found that the rewards are greater because they are personal. At a recent project for Habitat for Humanity, some of our volunteers who were working on renovating a house in Ypsilanti, actually had the opportunity to met the homeowner, a single mother, working to support her two small children. Her heartfelt thanks for our help brought tears and smiles to our faces. It was a great feeling.

A project for the Creekshead Nature Preserve of the Legacy Land Conservancy involved working with Conservancy employees to move wildflowers from pathways and transplant them in safe locations. An army of mosquitoes made it clear they did not appreciate our efforts as we searched for and lugged logs to create trails in the woods. Bug sprayed and sweaty, our team left the woods tired and feeling very happy to have made a difference.

A group of volunteers from Miller Canfield did a terrific job completely re-organizing an entire area of the Recycle Ann Arbor’s ReUse Center retail facility. The Center believes our efforts will facilitate greater sales for that department.

An unexpected outcome of our 25th anniversary celebration is that we are already thinking of future projects. We’re asking “is this something that we can repeat next year?” We want to build on this year’s enthusiasm to create long term relationships with the nonprofits we’re working with.

Our 25th anniversary has reminded us that doing our part to help the community is very rewarding. If your organization is thinking about celebrating an anniversary — or any type of success — I highly recommend volunteering your time.

Thomas O'Brien is Senior Counsel in Miller Canfield's Ann Arbor office. Miller Canfield opened its Ann Arbor office in July 1984 when it merged with DeVine, DeVine, Kantor and Serr. The firm offers businesses, governments, nonprofits, individuals and families legal and business services in over 55 areas. For more information, visit www.millercanfield.com.