“We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference.”
Can you spare 67 minutes of your time helping others?
That is the question posed by International Mandela Day, a day of celebration honoring the many ways Nelson Mandela gave back to his community and world. Created in 2009 and celebrated each year on July 18th, the former South African President’s birthday, the day asks that everyone give 67 minutes of their time in service to others, signifying the 67-plus years that the former South African President spent dedicated to promoting a culture of peace and freedom, and helping our world in so many ways.
Across Symantec, we are doing this every day thanks to thousands of active volunteers across our company and global operations. Last year alone Symantec employees across the globe collectively logged over 31,800 volunteer hours, a 23 percent increase over the previous year.
Today, in celebration of International Mandela Day, we bring to the blog an update on a few of our recent volunteer activities:
Volunteer of the Quarter – Ensuring Children in India Receive the School Supplies they Need
Each quarter, Symantec’s Volunteer of the Quarter initiative highlights and rewards those employees who dedicate their time and talents to those in need. This quarter we’ve chosen to recognize the entire India corporate responsibility (CR) team for their tremendous efforts, including an initiative with 160 employees to build 2,500 school kits for non-profit Sewa International!
Sewa International serves humanity in distress, aids local communities, and promotes volunteerism. Their vision is that we “live in a world of equality where everyone is happy, everyone enjoys good health, and everyone live in balance with nature.”
The India CR team has been engaged with Sewa International for nearly five years, and has supported the organization in an number of ways including assembly of school kits for children in need, fundraising efforts and conference support and coordination. For the most recent event, the group hosted the school kit drive at the Symantec office to help build school kits for the many children affected by Cyclone Phailan. Through outreach efforts at the office, the group was able to organize over 160 employees who worked together to create 1,500 school kits in only three hours!
And it wasn’t an easy job. Everyone was assigned to a different stage of the process including quality checking, filling bags with stationary, ensuring bags were properly filled according to grade level, stacking bags and loading the bags into a truck for delivery.
All of the team emphasized that one of the most fulfilling aspects of volunteering with Sewa International is seeing the smile on the face of children when receiving their school kits, and knowing then that they are truly making a positive impact on society.
| Symantec India’s corporate responsibility team is recognized as this year’s Volunteer of the Quarter and will receive a $1,000 donation to their charity of choice. |
The India CSR team organized 160 employees to fill 2,500 backpacks with school supplies for children in the Pune region. |
Inspiring and Recognizing Minnesota’s Next Generation of STEM Professionals
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology), was founded in 1989 by American inventor Dean Kamen, an inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless advocate for science and technology. It has grown into a global grass-roots movement to change our culture into one that highly values achievements in science and technology. FIRST’s vehicle for this change is a global robotics competition – the FRC – where student teams are given six weeks to build a robot that is designed to complete given tasks. After those six weeks, teams compete at regionals in the hopes to compete at the World. The program reaches approximately 68,000 students.
Here you can see President Obama’s video congratulating all taking part in FIRST’s 2014 competition.
Minnesota boasts the largest number of robotics teams per capita in the continental US. The Minnesota State High School League recognizes FIRST Robotics as a varsity activity, holds annual state tournaments and team members may earn varsity letters.
Employees from Symantec’s Roseville, Minnesota office have volunteered over 300 hours a year working with teams competing in the state and national FIRST robotics competitions. Volunteers help with a wide variety of tasks including coordinating transportation, providing programming support, hands on construction, community outreach, and are always present at events and demonstrations. For the first year, the Symantec Roseville office has also provided a grant to two robotics teams from the local area.
Many colleges and universities, professional associations, and corporations offer college scholarships to high school students on FIRST teams. This is official recognition of the knowledge and technical and life skills these students have gained from participating in a FIRST program. Last year one of the Roseville office’s interns was a FIRST alumnus from one of the Symantec sponsored teams. He has recently been hired into a full time position to work on the Roseville NetBackup CFT team.
Preparing UK Schools with the Tools to Combat and Prevent Cyberbullying
Bullying is a major issue across the world, especially with regards to students with special needs. For example, Mencap found that nearly nine out of 10 people with a learning disability experience some form of bullying, with over two-thirds experiencing it on a regular basis.
In the United Kingdom, Symantec has partnered with Achievement for All 3As to help students and teachers in the Gloucester region develop the tools to minimize bullying, with a focus on cyberbullying and bullying of students with special needs. Through sponsorship and volunteer efforts, Symantec will support this program in two ways:
- Enabling all schools and academics in and around the district of Gloucester to receive a leading edge anti-bullying training and staff development package. The program, which is currently underway, is aimed at reducing the incidence and impact of bullying on vulnerable learners, with specific emphasis on cyber-bullying.
- Achievement for All 3As will train Symantec Gloucester employees to support local primary schools with on-line safety and cyber-bullying assemblies and presentations to children aged five to 11.
Two workshops have already been held and Symantec volunteers will help with a third due to take place at the end of September.
Through Symantec’s sponsorship and volunteer efforts, 100 primary and secondary schools in the area will be able to access the program, versus less than 30 previously. Between 6 and 12 primary schools will also be supported by Symantec volunteers.
Making Every Day Mandela Day
We wish everyone a Happy International Mandela Day and hope today we can all be inspired to think about how we can give at least 67 minutes of our time to help others. Be it volunteering at work, volunteering with friends, volunteering from the comfort of your home, or participating in an event that raises funds and awareness for a cause, there are numerous opportunities to make a direct impact on someone’s life.
Symantec employees, if you are interested in learning more about opportunities at Symantec, please contact community_relations@symantec.com.
Ashley Savageau is Symantec's Community Relations Program Manager