Thanks[for]Giving

giving-tuesday-microsoft

A month that conjures images of pumpkins, costumes, and candy has now also become synonymous with community engagement here at Microsoft. October isn’t just for pumpkins anymore. In fact, for 33 years Microsoft employees have organized an employee giving campaign to encourage all Microsofties in the US to donate time and funds to the causes that inspire them. In the Bay Area, we are proud to lead the company with over 80% of our local workforce participating in the campaign.

At each of our offices, October was packed full of events to benefit nonprofit organizations in our community. Some Microsoft teams assembled hygiene kits for people experiencing homelessness in San Jose and San Francisco. Others tried their hands at urban farming with our friends at Veggielution. Others volunteered with Safe Passage to help youth in the Tenderloin neighborhood get home safely from school. No matter the activity, Microsofties were honored to have these opportunities to learn, celebrate, and lend a hand.

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Folks from the Xbox and HoloLens teams spent a day at Veggielution in San Jose.
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Runners from the PowerPoint team raised funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs before hitting the pavement for a 5K along the Stevens Creek Trail.
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Representatives from Skype assembled art kits and teddy bears, and then distributed them to patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford.

Beyond Microsoft, #GivingTuesday (TODAY!) is a global, one-day event that kicks off the charitable season. In 2015 #GivingTuesday engaged over 700,000 donors in 71 countries, and raised over $116 million for nonprofit organizations. This initiative, now in its fifth year, has come to be known as an alternative to the popular Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events.

This #GivingTuesday we encourage you to use your funds to empower the nonprofits that make this community a better place for all of us to live. If you need some inspiration, below are just a few of the causes that our local employees support.

Happy #GivingTuesday and thanks for giving!

screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-8-40-50-am Holiday Wish Drive
Microsoft is partnering with Family Giving Tree to provide gifts for low-income children and seniors. You can browse and fulfill specific holiday wishes by simply donating online.
harvest-food-bank Second Harvest Food Bank
Second Harvest accepts non-perishable food items as well as online donations, which allow the food bank to buy at wholesale prices. By making a donation online, your support goes even further and you can do it on the go!
tech-museum The Tech Museum of Innovation
More than 160,000 kids in Santa Clara County attend schools characterized as economically disadvantaged. A gift of just $40 to The Tech’s Field Trip Scholarship Fund enables one child to visit the museum for a day of hands-on learning in science, technology, and engineering. | thetech.org/support-us/ways-to-give