Posts Tagged giving back
An update on Emma’s giving back efforts
How each new Emma customer helps us support DonorsChoose.org
Since we give $5 to DonorsChoose for every new customer that signs up, Emma employees have a lot of fun directing upwards of $2,000 each month to deserving classrooms. A rotating cast of our staffers hand-pick where the money goes each time, and it’s such a joy to make personal connections and help underfunded teachers and projects.
Let’s take a look at some recent projects we’ve helped fund …
Comic books bring Shakespeare to life
Cody De Vos, a member of our agency relations team, directed and co-wrote Terminator the Second, a re-imagination of Terminator II using dialogue culled directly from Shakespeare’s works. It’s no stretch to say he’s a film geek.
So with that production fresh on their minds, a few staffers quickly fell in love with Mrs. C’s request for comic book versions of Romeo and Juliet. We hope this project inspired her high school students to embrace the works of Shakespeare — and become life-long readers.
Books in bags for better readers
Jerry Morrison keeps IT operations running smoothly around the office, and he’s also the father of a young son who’s enthusiastic about reading. When choosing this project as one for Emma to fund, he knew that purchasing books for a low-income, second-grade classroom was a no-brainer.
“I know how much my kiddo loves reading and getting cool books to bring home from school,” he said. “I think it would be neat to help give these kids the same excitement.”
Smile for the yearbook
Mrs. H. sponsors an after-school art club and supervises the yearbook, but she’d always taken the pictures herself or recruited parents’ help. This year, though, she wanted to give her students digital cameras so they could capture memories through their own eyes.
David Weintraub, a senior sales associate at Emma and professional photographer, spotted the project. “It’s great to support young photography students,” he said. “I love that we helped them get the tools they need to learn.”
+ + + + +
Thanks for joining Emma, and helping us do some good in classrooms around the country. Think you’d like to get more involved? It’s completely possible that your ability to help spark a love of reading, passion for graphic design or enthusiasm for football is only a click away. Visit DonorsChoose.org to find projects that fit your own interests, and tell us what you find.
Knock Back a Cold Can of Altruism
Emma’s always been concerned about giving back to the community in which we live and work. We’ve been lucky enough to stumble into some success and as my grandmother always says, “A rising tide floats all boats.” Picture Emma as that tide, minus any sort of weird flood phobias you might have.
We have a good relationship with many of the non-profits who use our service. Email communication is cost-effective and timely for these non-profits who typically have little of either money or time. We know that they are constantly under the burden of tightening budgets and we’re always looking for some way to help out.
That’s where our Office Coordinator, Anne Rochford, comes in. She’s always listening patiently to our gripes about the kitchen being out of Cokes (or sodas for the Ohioans that work here). She had the great idea that we could slake our thirst and at the same time raise a little money to help out our community.
For the last several months, we’ve all been dutifully paying 25 cents for each Coke we drink. (Well, between you and me, Matt seems to think that Mondays are 2 for 1.) All of the money raised each month is given to charity. To add a little more spiciness, the charities are chosen by an Emma staffer each month. Money that would otherwise end up in a jar somewhere is given to those who need it and Emma staffers get a chance to help out their favorite charities. Picture that tide again and some beautiful sailboats, maybe just off the cost of some Mediterranean island. Now, wake up.
We’re in our fourth month of what I’m calling (without consultation) the Drink Back Campaign. These are the charities we’ve donated to so far:
1st month – Magdalene House
2nd month – Book ‘Em
3rd month – Sexual Assault Center
Current month – Nashville Humane Association
A little trivia about our efforts:
Emma staffers’ favorite drink: Diet Dr. Pepper
Emma staffers’ least favorite drink: Sprite (lack of caffeine?)
Average # cases consumed in a month: 10
Average # hours Emma intern “Lojack” spends rolling the change: 3
Total amount of money donated: almost $400
Does your company have an interesting way of giving back to the community?
And the tree total to date is…
With June behind us, we’re officially halfway through 2008, the year we set out to plant a tree for every new customer who joins Emma. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve planted a whopping 10,855 trees so far this year, with the latest batch from June on their way to Wisconsin soil to find a home.
Of course, now it’s July, and that means it’s time to vote on a new location for half of this month’s trees. Remember, the other half goes to the equatorial region of Plant-It 2020′s choice (they’re our fabulous partner in all this tree planting business). Also, remember that the states we ask you to vote on come from Plant-It 2020′s list of pre-approved non-harvest sites – it’s not that we’re biased toward states like Wisconsin, although few Emma staffers would turn down a lovely aged white cheddar. Anyway, take a moment and tell us where you’d like to send some trees…
[poll=7]
Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
Copyright © 2003 - 2012 Emma. All rights reserved.