Volunteering is a powerful and sustainable way to make a difference in the world around us. When it comes to giving back to the community, Oracle employees are no strangers to that. Understanding the value of volunteering, our staff has united forces in hundreds of local, national and global community service activities, totaling more than 70,000 hours spent in corporate volunteer projects – taking into account only the current year.
October proved to be a very busy month for our dedicated Volunteers who took part in 27 global campaigns. They’ve ran for fundraising events, spent time bringing bright smiles on the faces of kids from shelter homes, donated blood or went the extra mile for a cleaner environment. They’ve done it all in the good name of humanity.
Honoring their impressive efforts, let’s take a look at some of their most recent initiatives.
An evening to remember with the Oracle Romania volunteers & kids from FARA NGO
Volunteering can mean lots of laughs, live music and good fun, too. This is what the Oracle Romania team of volunteers had in mind when they set up the “Kingdom of Ice and Fire” interactive children’s theatre play for orphan children, part of the FARA Charity organization.
Their main drive? Offer neglected children the opportunity to interact with other kids their age and be part of an educational and fun activity. In total, 25 Oracle employees responded to this invitation, bringing along their kids, too. The entertainment part was ensured by a handful of talented actors who sang ‘Do you want build a snowman” along with the audience. “We encouraged volunteers to bring their own children who met the children from FARA before the play. As quick as only children can, they started talking and it was obvious when we let them choose their seats that they had already made some friends”, explains Lorena Trambitas, the event project leader.
Lorena believes the event was a ‘real hit’: “it showed us what an orphaned child needs most: attention. As Humphrey Bogart would put it, this was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship as plans were made to visit the orphanage again”.
Lorena is one of the many Oracle employees that believe in the positive drive of active volunteering. Her first project, “Bring your own lunch” encouraged Oracle employees to donate their lunch money to Motivation Romania – an NGO for physically disabled children and, in the end, the total donations helped them go on a travel camp! For her next project, Lorena plans to gather as many volunteers as possible and visit a home for the elderly to bring the same light of hope and joy on their faces.
Oracle India volunteers during their special get-together with the children from the shelter
Generosity can go a long way, especially for those really in need. Fortunately, Oracle India volunteers are no strangers to lending a helping hand. Every month, at least 3 or 4 times, they get together and organize volunteering actions for those less fortunate. One of their latest projects took place on October 17th in Bangalore, India.
Thirteen Oracle volunteers in collaboration with Surabhi Foundation Trust visited a special children’ home for school drop outs. They brought along shoes, clothes, food, educational materials, stationary, books for 32 children. “When they received new shoes and cloths there was a heavenly smile on their faces”, Rakesh Dashpute recalls. “We have to show them they are not alone, neglected or unfortunate. We wanted to show them we are there with them”.
Rakesh is the project coordinator and a strong advocate for educational equal rights. He is also our top global Oracle volunteer by number of projects –159 and counting! As he explains, volunteering is not only an act of greatness, but a great character builder. “I enjoy giving back and actually realize that I do so because it brings me great joy. I meet some amazing people, inspiring, kind, interesting”, Rakesh says.
Their volunteering efforts don’t stop here - everyone interested is invited to take part and transform the lives of the underprivileged through monthly donations.
Oracle Mexico volunteers looking happy after wrapping up their classroom re-painting project
At the beginning of October, Oracle Mexico volunteers had one special mission: repaint the old and torn apart classroom walls of a school in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco (Mexico).
The project came as a big challenge for all 30 participants who needed to arm themselves with high doses of energy in order to complete several demanding tasks: cleaning and scraping off the walls, removing old painting and re-adding fresh paint on the classroom interiors.
“It was phenomenal how all the volunteers took responsibility on this volunteer project and gave their best at every moment”, project lead, Erika Ornelas notes.
Their help did not go unnoticed and the community responded with positive feedback. “The community welcomed us well and provided us any help that was needed to execute this project, like room preparation by taking out all the things from the classrooms and helped us to resolve any difficulty.
After wrapping up the project, some volunteers took the promise to come back and continue their work for the community.
Clearing Up the Path for a Green Future
Oracle China Volunteers during the Green Walking and White Trash Clearing Up Event
October was a busy month for our environmental friendly volunteers, as well. No less than 31 Oracle volunteers got together on the 17 of October to participate in the Green Walking event, in Dalian, Liaoning (China). All equipped with trash bags, gloves and brooms, they organized themselves into making the streets of the city of Dalian a better, cleaner place.
“Everyone are very proactive in this Green Walking event. We cleaned a lot of rubbish: white trash bags, cigarette butts, disposable lunch boxes, food bags, etc.” – explained Bingxi Wang, the project owner.
And like all good deeds, their hard work wasn’t left unnoticed.
“On that day I heard a mother tell her daughter: look at those volunteers, they are working hard to keep this city clean, so you should not throw rubbish too. That’s when I understood our work is valuable.”
Oracle US employees after a day of hard work clearing up the trails for future hitch-hikers
On the 10th of October, in Wardensville, West Virginia (US), 9 Oracle volunteers in collaboration with the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) decided to unite forces into clearing the path of several fallen trees from hitch-hiking trails.
“PATC expressed tremendous thanks for all our hard efforts and I would like to do the same to the super group of volunteers who participated in this event. They gave up their weekend and traveled a great distance, putting their trust in the accommodations to embark on what I must say was not a beginner’s level trail! The physical expenditure paid dividends in the form of a beautiful surrounding from which I hope everyone took rejuvenation”, said Heather Conner, the volunteering project leader.
---
Group volunteering is a great way to build stronger teams and use skills to do something for the community. Whether you want to get out and be active, offer support for those in need or mentor others, Oracle is committed to helping you find the next volunteering project.
About the Author:
Passionate about turning simple ideas into creative stories. Truly in love with storytelling, Ramona Costea has been active in the media writing and publishing business for over 8 years. She is now a Copywriter for Oracle’s Global Recruiting department, where she continues to experiment with social media and improve content strategy. Her specialties include content writing, online marketing, employer branding and social media.
Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Liked it? Read more of my articles here.
