In doing our part to successfully support our communities, Carousel provides team members with volunteer time to help their favorite cause. Here, Erik Weissenberger explains his day spent with his daughter to stock endangered trout in his home state of Colorado.

Recently, my 13-year-old daughter Bryn and I participated in a volunteer event to stock native, endangered greenback cutthroat trout in Herman Gulch, Colorado. The event was managed collaboratively by the Bureau of Land Management, State of Colorado, Department of Fish & Game, National Forest Service and Trout Unlimited. I was thrilled at the opportunity to use Carousel’s employee volunteer benefit to participate for the entire day.

The agencies loaded our backpacks with bags full of water and fingerling trout from a Colorado fish hatchery. We, and more than 70 volunteers, then hiked and deposited the fish over a three mile stretch of stream in the 10,000 – 11,000 ft elevation range. I appreciated that we were given independence to choose an appropriate spot to deposit our assigned trout, seeking out calm pools. We had to wade across the stream to reach one attractive spot. Though the stream was relatively narrow, because it was very fast-moving and cold (39°), our feet were numbed by the crossing.

The event was a great opportunity for my daughter and me to participate in a fun and meaningful conservation effort fueled by many energetic agency reps and volunteers. The effort demonstrated the value of rallying a variety of resources around a common goal. It reminded me of how Carousel rolls out new offers and manages client implementations, drawing upon a diverse team of employees with deep expertise to bring about the best outcomes for customers.