As part of NetSuite.org’s commitment to the communities where we live and work, the SuiteImpact Team program provides employees across all our NetSuite offices with opportunities to get involved with local charities. Each office has its own set of SuiteImpact Team Ambassadors, employee volunteers who manage the program. This month, we are delighted to feature a guest blog from the incredible Ambassador team in the NetSuite Boston office, Monica, Koren and Jillian.
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In the past year, the number of employees in the NetSuite Boston Office has grown from fewer than 90 to over 150. With the increase in size comes new challenges from the practical (where will we fit them all!?) to the philosophical (can we still call ourselves the small office?). The quicker the office grew the more challenging it was to get people involved with our charity work. Finding volunteer opportunities that fit with dynamic schedules and diverse preferences is no easy task and we certainly felt the pressure of selecting a project that worked for everyone. Fortunately, we came to realize that there was no reason to choose a volunteer opportunity for our employees when they could choose for themselves!
We identified three opportunities for employees both onsite and offsite to help give back to the community in a way that fit best for them.
The NetSuite Boston Office partnered with Cards for Hospitalized Kids, an internationally recognized organization that sends homemade cards to local hospitals. Over the course of a full work day, came in and out as they were available and by the end we had 57 cards with over 50% of the office participating; the event was so successful that the Manila office held their own card making party.
Employees who wanted a more hands-on activity spent one hour weekly reading to elementary students in low-income communities as part of the Read to a Child program. More than a dozen NetSuite employees have participated in this event so far to great success; the kids even threw the team a year-end party as a thank you.
Finally, to brighten everyone’s spirits on Valentine’s Day, employees participated in the Cookies for Charity Contest. Each employee contestant made a delicious batch of cookies and chose a registered 501c3 charity. Each participating employee made a donation and the charity of the contestant the office judged to have made the best cookies won the donations. The Big Sisters Association received a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift this year – and our office had a great time tasting and voting in the competition!
With many exciting events planned for the coming months it is clear that more Boston employees have are passionate about getting involved. As the office continues to grow we are receiving suggestions on how to give back to the community and we can’t wait to plan the next event.