Back in April, our Head of People and Culture, Nicole Tzavaras wrote a blog post on social connection. With hybrid and remote working the new post-pandemic normal, she shared the five things that we’re doing to stave off loneliness, increase social connection, celebrate our people, and stay mentally and physically fit in 2022.
One of those things was giving back to the communities in which we live and work. So, earlier this year, we asked our people to nominate and vote on the charities that mattered most to them and committed to support one charity a quarter by getting involved in a number of activities to provide support, raise awareness and donate funds to those who need it most.
We received 160 votes across 21 charities—from child safe organisations through to homeless support services and mental health foundations—our people’s passion to move humanity forward was nothing short of incredible. In fact, it’s one of our core values here at DiUS.
Out of those 21 charities, Cure Cancer was chosen as the first organisation we’d support in 2022. At the start of the quarter, we set ourselves a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (or BHAG for short) to raise $5,000 in just three months and organised a variety of activities to help reach our fundraising goal including a BarbeCURE, virtual games night and charity raffle. Our people in Sydney also had the opportunity to visit the Cure Cancer offices and pack Buddy Boxes for children undergoing cancer treatment—a highlight for the quarter!
Now, while we didn’t quite hit our fundraising goal (they call it a BHAG for a reason), we did still raise $2,545.89 in just three months for Cure Cancer! But more importantly, after a difficult two years, our people had the opportunity to reconnect, while supporting a cause that they’re passionate about. And for many who had joined us throughout the pandemic, they got to meet their new team mates, not only on screen, but off screen too.
We remain committed to giving back to the communities in which we live and work, so we’re currently working with our second charity partner for 2022, OzHarvest, to help address the huge volume of food going to waste—stay tuned for an update on our work with OzHarvest in the coming months.
