16 March, 2011
EMC recently donated more than 30,000 pounds of food and volunteered more than 570 hours at the Greater Boston Food Bank. It’s all part of the employee-led campaign entitled “EMC Fights Hunger” that was announced by EMC Chief Marketing Officer Jeremy Burton in January.
The program was developed by employees from the Marketing Leadership Development Program (MLDP) and its goal is to positively affect 10,000 people around the world. In Massachusetts, the goal was to assemble 2,500 pasta dinners, or 20,000 pounds of food, for families in the Greater Boston area.
In order to motivate employees and raise donations, the EMC Global Marketing teams raffled off prizes and posted pictures on social media sites to promote the cause.
“Like many other EMCers, I volunteer my time outside of work to organizations that are important to me,” said Offer Marketing Specialist Mark Zurlo, a recent MLDP graduate. “I feel it is important to be part of an organization that believes that giving back is important.”
After only four weeks, the EMC Fights Hunger campaign exceeded its goal; over 4,500 pasta dinners, or 30,000 pounds of food, were donated. Throughout the first week of March, more than 225 EMC marketing and communication employees, including CMO Burton, donated their time to sort the donated items at The Greater Boston Food Pantry.
“The EMC Fights Hunger campaign is one of the most successful corporate food drives we have on record,” said Trent Davis, Corporate Relations Manager at The Greater Boston Food Bank. “We thank EMC for its commitment to giving back to the community, and we thank EMC’s employees for their compassionate support to ensure that those who need food get the food they need.”
In addition to the Massachusetts efforts, the EMC Fights Hunger campaign continues in EMC offices around the world. In California, EMC employees are volunteering at local schools to develop and teach a Healthy Nutrition curriculum. Over 200 children are learning from EMC volunteers about the long term impact of food choices.
In China, over 100 EMC employees volunteered at a local rehabilitation center for handicapped individuals and participated in baking workshops. The food prepared in the workshops was distributed to individuals in need in the community.
“To work for a company that not only encourages employees to donate during a corporate campaign, but allows people to volunteer during work hours for these initiatives is wonderful,” said Amy Blackshaw, Senior Associate, MLDP. “This opportunity enabled us to work with out colleagues on an important effort, while providing team building and a sense of camaraderie that you just don’t get at the office. It feels great to be part of an organization that cares about the community in which we do business.”
