Tuning Up Charity With Elbow Grease : Volunteers: Gift of time donated by Orange County firms proves an invaluable commodity.

Fluor Corp., usually in the business of building power plants and oil refineries, recently took on a much smaller--yet greatly appreciated--task. Thirty Fluor employees pitched in to construct a sign for a nonprofit school that serves 175 disabled children.

PacifiCare Health Systems personnel revived the playground with 60 tons of sand and a couple of swing sets. Rockwell International Corp. scientists engineered new lighting for the gymnasium.

By day’s end, the Speech and Language Development Center in Buena Park scarcely resembled its former self. About 400 employees of Orange County companies had stormed the place, leaving in their wake fresh paint on every surface from walls to fences. Even the parking lot now sports new yellow stripes.

That swarm of do-gooders represents a national trend: As the recession has forced companies to retrench, businesses are turning to an old-fashioned form of charity--the gift of time.

“Given the economic climate, volunteerism is a good way for companies to stay involved in the community without pouring a lot of money into various organizations,” said Marie Crosson, manager of community relations for Irvine computer maker AST Research, another participant.

Financial donations by U.S. companies have virtually stalled at about $6 billion annually after more than doubling from $2.2 billion in 1980 to $4.8 billion in 1985, according to a study just released by the American Assn. of Fund-Raising Counsel in New York. To compensate for dropping fewer dollars in the collection plate, companies are rallying employees to repair homeless shelters, tutor students in public schools and deliver food to the elderly.

“In terms of hours volunteered, the corporate sector of the population is the quickest-growing donor,” said Judy Vallano, spokeswoman for Points of Light Foundation, which promotes volunteerism.

The foundation, based in Washington, estimates that one hour of elbow grease is worth about $11.50 in cash. Based on that calculation, the employees who rolled up their sleeves at the Speech and Language Development Center on Saturday donated more than $40,000--not including materials, which were purchased by the 38 companies involved.

The mission was mobilized by the Orange County Corporate Combined Volunteer Project, an 8-year-old group that every spring selects a nonprofit organization in need of a face lift. Previous recipients have included the Santa Ana Zoo and Florence Crittenton Services in Fullerton, a shelter for young mothers.

“With tax funding cut to the bone, agencies today need so many things--improvements as well as dollars,” said Ann Hall, administrative services coordinator for Lucky Stores Southern California Division in Buena Park. The unit is a leading participant in the Combined Volunteer Project.

“The labor is what makes renovation cost-prohibitive for these agencies, and volunteers take away that overhead,” Hall said. “It’s incredible what a large number of people can accomplish when they set their minds to it.”

Muff Elstran, director of fund-raising for the Speech and Language Development Center, sees the new corporate volunteerism as “a major wave of the future.”

“Until the economy turns around, companies increasingly will offer time instead of funds,” Elstran said. “And as far as we’re concerned, time is just as great a contribution.”

The charities themselves have begun to request personnel rather than money, said Beverly Paonessa, community relations adviser for Rockwell International’s defense electronics unit in Anaheim. “They realize that corporations, too, are having financial difficulties.”

Rockwell has trimmed the subsidiary’s budget for philanthropic donations, Paonessa said, heightening the importance of charity work. Last year, the unit formed a committee to organize volunteer projects that have included painting a home for senior citizens and remodeling the kitchen at a shelter for abused children.

“When it was getting started, we had a core group of about 10 employees that showed up at every event,” Paonessa said. “Now the number of repeat offenders, as we call them, has grown to 40.”

Such projects give direction to employees looking for a way to contribute, Paonessa said. “In Southern California, where so many people work in one community and live in another, sometimes it’s hard to figure out where and how to volunteer.”

Among other companies setting up volunteer programs in recent years is PacifiCare Health Systems in Cypress. “We have projects both for employees who like physical work and for those who don’t--from working in food distribution centers to renovating low-income houses,” said Lucy Cunningham, president of the PacifiCare Foundation, the health-care provider’s philanthropic arm.

Though volunteerism doesn’t provide tax advantages, as do out-of-pocket donations, the less measurable benefits are immense, companies say. For starters, donations in any form enhance a company’s public image. “The people with whom you do business perceive you as more credible if you are involved in the community,” said Jim Straw, vice president of community relations for Avco Financial Services in Irvine.

Also, employees enjoy working for a company that seems to care about the world beyond its lobby. A charitable project gives them a chance to contribute actively to a good cause. “It boosts employee morale, which translates into improved efficiency,” Straw said.

Mathew Ting, a Rockwell engineer who helped build cabinets at the Speech and Language Development Center, said the experience fostered friendships with co-workers he had never before met. “Most of the time, I just associate with my fellow engineers,” Ting said. “It gave me the opportunity to meet people from other departments.”

And that’s a bonus for the company and the employees, Straw said: “Wonderful things happen when people get to know each other working side by side with paintbrushes in their hands rather than sending inter-departmental memos.”

Starting a Volunteer Program

Companies are turning their employees’ enthusiasm for volunteer work into opportunities to boost morale and build closer corporate ties to the community. The following organizations will help companies of any size launch an employee volunteer program:

* Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County

Milet Ellis, corporate development coordinator

(714) 953-5757

* Volunteer Center West

Michael Falk, director

(714) 375-7755

* Corporate Volunteer Council of Southern California

Katherine Faith, president

(310) 767-6405

Sources: Volunteer Center West, Volunteer Center of Orange County;

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times

Contributions Level Off

Charitable giving by U.S. corporations increased steadily during the early 1980s but leveled off late in the decade. Contributions in billions of dollars: ‘80: $2.2 ‘92: $6.0 Source: American Assn. of Fund-Raising Council