Every year on MLK Day, Americans across the country come together to serve their neighbors and communities in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy of service to humankind. Today, we celebrate all of you, the acts of community service you perform, and the diverse viewpoints and perspectives you bring to our business.
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve.”
So said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Baptist minister and social activist who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. Every year on Martin Luther King, Jr.(MLK) Day, Americans from across the country come together to serve their neighbors and communities in recognition of his legacy of service.
The MLK Day of Service, a part of United We Serve, the President's national call to service initiative, asks Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. It’s the only US federal holiday observed as a national day of service.
Symantec employees around the globe heed this call to service throughout the year. Local-level community relations committees organize and execute site-wide volunteer opportunities in support of Symantec’s philanthropic focus areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education; online safety; diversity; and environmental responsibility.
In places like South Africa, Symantec employees are building relationships with local nonprofits making a difference for their neighbors. In Sweden and Australia, employees are helping children to protect themselves online and eliminate cyberbullying. In the US and the UK, employees are equipped with the knowledge and materials to teach online safety basics to K-12 students. And in the spirit of making the holidays a little bit brighter for their less advantaged neighbors, employees around the globe organized many food drives, toy drives, and service activities at the end of 2014. And employees are always finding ways to apply their unique skill sets to benefit nonprofit organizations, including these four employees who shared their careers journeys virtually with children at Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Dublin employees participated in the site's third annual food drive benefiting St. Vincent De Paul during the holiday season.
Green Teams around the globe are looking at ways to reduce Symantec’s environmental footprint. Their quarterly Green Talks series, featuring speakers from organizations like the Rainforest Alliance and Fabien Cousteau’s Mission 31, are open to all employees and seek provide perspective on pressing environmental issues. And initiatives like the One Mug, One Planet campaign are encouraging each of us to consider how our everyday actions contribute to our overall company-wide impact.
Julie Liang, Jodi Montoya, and Shashank Sundareshan - Mountain View
At the individual level, employees have access to programs like the employee Matching Gift, Dollars for Doers, and Nonprofit Board Service Programs. These programs provide corporate support for the organizations and issues that are most important to employees on a personal level – even when those organizations and issues don’t align with Symantec’s corporate philanthropic priorities. Our Volunteers of the Quarter – people like Raj Singapori, Claudia Hulenaar, Melaney Smith, and the India Corporate Responsibility team, among others – have successfully maximized their contributions, combining their personal time and expertise with matching cash donations from Symantec.
The India CSR team organized 160 employees to fill 1,500 backpacks with school supplies for children in the Pune region.
In recognition of each of your commitments to the communities in which you live and work, Symantec was recently named one of the 50 most community-minded organizations in America, something the Corporate Responsibility team is very proud of, and something that all of us can be proud of!
In addition to being a champion of community service, Dr. Martin Luther King was also, of course, a prominent leader in the U.S. African-American civil rights movement. MLK Day was instituted in 1983 – after a long struggle – to commemorate his contributions to this movement. The Symantec Black Employees’ Network (SBEN) chapter in Heathrow is marking the day by marching in the 31st annual Orlando, Florida MLK Day Parade. They are also gathering for a Plant Seedlings for Civil Rights event on the University of Central Florida Campus.
How are you serving your community this MLK Day? Contact us and let us know what your passions are. We’ll have you find a way to serve in ways that benefit you, your community, and Symantec!
Lora Phillips is Symantec's Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility.