One of our values here at Sprout Social is to champion diversity, equity and inclusion. We believe that beyond the internal work we do for our employees, equity is about how we engage with the world and community around us. Our goal is to ensure that we’re using our privilege and resources to support the communities within which we live.
To support this goal, we recently introduced a volunteer program called Sprout Serves. Our team has made a commitment to complete 10,000 service hours between now and the end of 2020, and our Dublin team recently led the charge with their very first service day.
On the heels of our successful Philanthropy Week, our Dublin team partnered with a local charity called Dublin Simon Community. Their mission is to provide access to homes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and make sure they’re able to stay in their homes once settled. Our team was especially passionate about partnering with this group since their mission is to lift up people in need from the local community.
A representative from the Dublin Simon Community gave our team an overview of the services they provide and shared more information on the homelessness epidemic in Ireland. While this was an emotional talk, you could feel the sense of pride from our team on their choice to rally for such a prevalent cause.
On a Wednesday afternoon, the entire Dublin team happily set aside two hours of their time to help support the cause. With over 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in Ireland, we knew that access to basic resources like healthcare and hygiene products were scarce. We decided to come together and create care packages for those in need and worked with our local pharmacy to purchase toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, shower gel, deodorant and sanitary pads. We explained why we were purchasing these items in bulk and they were more than happy to provide us with these items at cost.
After we got the products, the team broke out into groups and started organizing the care packages. The energy was palpable from everyone in the room as they busily and diligently placed each item into our blue care bags. After we finished packing and getting everything ready for collection, the sense of pride, kindness and accomplishment from the team was inspirational.
The success of our first service day was a team-wide effort and I want to extend a special thank you to Michelle Bess, our Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for helping organize and Gerard Murnaghan, our VP and General Manager, EMEA, for his generous match on the funds we donated to the Dublin Simon Community.
Our Dublin team has caught the Sprout Serves bug and since our service day, we’ve participated in Focus Ireland’s Shine a Light Night, where we had a “sleep out” event to continue our efforts of raising funds for those who are homeless. Thanks to our efforts, I’m proud to share that Team Sprout raised a total of €3598 for this cause.
Want to get involved with events like these alongside our growing team? Check out our open positions, we’re hiring!