Pioneers, a Volunteer Network, also known as the Telephone Pioneers of America, or simply as the Telephone Pioneers, is a non-profit charitable organization based in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. It was founded in Boston in 1911 as the Telephone Pioneers of America, with 734 members, including Alexander Graham Bell who received membership card No. 1.
As of 2009 it has grown to an organization of about 620,000 members, consisting primarily of actively employed and retired employees in the telecommunications industry. Pioneers volunteer more than 10 million hours annually responding to the individual needs of their communities throughout the United States and Canada. It is funded through company sponsors and public charitable donations. In the United States, contributions are tax deductible, and the organization is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
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Pioneers is a network of volunteers who effect immediate, tangible change in local communities, in partnership with their sponsors.
The history of the Pioneers is tied closely to the science and technology of telephones and the ingenious people who made it happen. The need to communicate gave impetus to Alexander Graham Bell, whose fascination was bolstered by his concern for those whose hearing was impaired or non-existent. With the able assistance of Thomas Watson and the support of several others, the rest became telephone history. And for the men and women who took part as Bell's invention and enterprise blossomed and grew, it was the foundation of an new industry and the beginning of many careers.
In 1910, AT&T's Henry W. Pope suggested the industry's success warranted more than paychecks and job satisfaction. Many of the people who pioneered the industry and who had spent 20 or 30 years together indicated they would like to stay in touch. However, Pope wondered, where were all those who had started out in the industry? The question sent both Pope and his office mate, Charles R. Truex, to their desks to compile lists of old friends and co-workers. Thomas Doolittle, already retired, was quick to join the effort, and the notion of the Telephone Pioneers of America was born. Once completed, the list was presented to Theodore N. Vail, then president of AT&T, who concurred in the plans and suggested an annual gathering of the group.
The first meeting of the fledgling Telephone Pioneers of America convened on November 2, 1911, in Boston, where Dr. Bell signed as the first charter member and Mr. Vail, who would serve for nine years, was elected the organization's first president. Membership was initially limited to those with 21 years of industry service, a standard that stood for 53 years, In the beginning, friendship and fellowship were its primary concerns. Industry people recalling the facts, traditions, and memories of the early history of the telephone. The service requirement was gradually reduced over time and today, any employee of one of the organization's sponsor companies can become a member on the first day of his or her employment.
The focus of the organization has changed as well. Those who wrote the original Pioneers purpose were forward thinking in adding that it would also encourage "such other meritorious objects consistent with the foregoing as may be desirable." That became what would make the Pioneers different from other industry groups. In 1958, Pioneers adopted community service as a core value. Chapters, councils and clubs began their own initiatives, mostly working with children's groups. Telephone Pioneers of America evolved into TelecomPioneers in 2002 to better reflect the shift from basic telephone service to broader telecommunications provided by the companies that support and sponsor Pioneers projects. These include AT&T, Bell Aliant, FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, Qwest, SaskTel, the Verizon Foundation and the self sponsored New Outlook Pioneers group composed of employees and retirees of Lucent Technologies, Avaya Communication, and Agere. In 2009, the organization's name further evolved into just 'Pioneers'. Today, the organization is the world's largest group of industry-specific employees and retirees dedicated to community service.
Pioneers projects are as diverse and unique as the needs of the communities it serves.
Pioneers educational programs address the needs of young people, with an emphasis on literacy, personal development, technological skills, mentoring and other education-related support that promote learning, academic, career and economic success and inclusiveness for all – including several programs with specifically designed components for those who are disadvantaged or experience disabilities. Volunteer work in this area includes collecting, reading and donating books to children, helping improve reading comprehension skills using Pioneers' innovative, online program Power Up To Read, providing schools, after school centers and libraries with computers, collecting, assembling and donating backpacks of school supplies for needy students and painting maps of the United States and Canada on playgrounds.
Pioneers care for people with disabilities and for senior citizens. Life enrichment projects include building wheelchair ramps, building custom tricycles known as Hot Trikes and teaching seniors how to use computers and cellphones.
Pioneers reach out help our neighbors in need in times of crisis from stocking food pantry's to responding when natural disasters strike by providing supplies and shelter.
Many of the Pioneers' local projects developed over the past 100 years have been geared toward improving the environment. The environmental and beautification initiatives have included planting trees, bushes and flowers native to the local environment, picking up litter along roads, beaches, and parks, recycling items such as phone books, cell phones and printer cartridges, educating school-aged children on how to reduce, reuse and recycle, and refurbishing and donating used computers.
Pioneers' projects that support servicemen and women, veterans and their families include collecting and recycling used cell phones to purchase prepaid phone cards, collecting and donating supplies (diapers, children’s clothes, school supplies, etc.) for soldier’s families, collecting supplies for comfort kits including toiletries, games, snacks, reading material, phone cards, etc. and sending to those serving overseas, cleaning, painting and landscaping homes for deployed soldiers and/or veterans and cleaning up, beautifying and posting flags at military grave sites.
The Pioneers' headquarters were originally located in New York but moved to Denver, Colorado in 1991. As of 2009 there were eight groups of Pioneers, including:
These groups are composed of 82 Pioneers chapters located throughout the United States and Canada. Many of these chapters additionally have Pioneers clubs and councils.
Pioneers partners with these organizations to strengthen its volunteer programs: