At Corios we are extremely thankful for Emily. Emily’s leading principle is “We give back because we can.” Leading with this no nonsense and 100% correct philosophy, she combines common sense and empathy, with a little bit of humor, and achieves results for those in our community (and the world) who need it most.
Today has been dubbed by the “powers-that-be” as “Giving Tuesday.” The general idea being, that the most appropriate thing to follow the gluttony and commercialism of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is a day to focus minds (and money) on helping those who need it most.
This morning, Emily greeted our team with a little comical “truth.”
“Giving Tuesday is definitely a hokey, phony, marketing- created, event like Arbor Day or National Donut Day. But, if it gets people who normally wouldn’t think of donating to a charity to open their wallets, then I’m behind it.”
With helping firmly in mind, Emily’s message promptly focused on a few direct calls to action. In addition to calling out several big name charities such as NPR and the WWF, she also highlighted a few lesser known opportunities to give back such as Give Well and Give Directly. (Looking for somewhere to give back today? It only takes a couple minutes.)
So, with this none too subtle reminder in effect, I knew today was the perfect day to contribute to my team’s efforts to win Corios Penny Wars. As mentioned in my previous blog post “Giving Thanks”, Penny Wars is our annual fundraiser for the Oregon Food Bank. The idea is for each team to earn points through the contribution of pennies, while decreasing the points of other teams through the contribution of other coins and bills.
For Example:
100 Pennies = 100 points
1 Dollar Bill = -100 points
Obviously the end result = Lots of Money for Oregon Food Bank.
And so, off to the bank I went, in search of pennies (lots and lots of pennies.)
Did you know $25 of pennies come in a convenient carrying box?
For the record, I’m going to say I left the pennies in the box as a favor to Emily who counts the totals weekly. However, in truth, I like the perceived image of my team “standing” on a first place podium.
Whether your company has sponsored a formal holiday giving project, or you just take a few minutes to visit Give Well or Give Directly, be sure to seize today’s opportunities to help out those who need it most.
