We are halfway through the year and we could not be more chuffed: 20 new colleagues joined us in the first six months of this year, 20 new brainy, tech-savvy and caring individuals who are contributing to the great work we do for our clients - and to charities.
At the start of the year and spear-headed by our Managing Director Ciprian Costea, we initiated a new programme that roughly translates as 'We Help You Help'. In other words, we support our staff in helping organisations that provide essential services to fellow humans and our four-legged friends. While we also encourage volunteering throughout the year, this particular programme works specifically through monetary gifts. Here's how.
Upon completion of their probationary period every new employee receives an extra month's salary as a welcome gift, of which at least 50% is then donated to a charity of their choice - they can choose to donate the entire amount as well, of course. In doing so, our 20 newbies have to date donated nearly 15,000 EUR (73,910 RON) to a variety of good causes: from emergency support for Ukrainian refugees to cancer research, hospice care, animal welfare and media groups supporting free press. The range of organisations extends to their size as well, with employees choosing from a plethora of small, local organisations (e.g. Beard Brothers) as well as national (e.g. G4Media, Fundatia Renasterea) and even international charities (e.g. World Vision, Maltesers). With each donation our team shows that they are colleagues who care - and we could not be prouder of them.
And while financial support for NGOs is of course a great result in and of itself, what we really hope to achieve through this initiative goes beyond that. In selecting an organisation to donate to, each colleague assesses which causes are the closest to their heart - and in so doing becomes an ambassador of those causes. It has been a joy to hear the conversations around the office about the various charities our team members support - and especially why. We would probably all do well to think about these things a bit more.
