By Mike Manfredi
Hard at work...
Here at Ipswitch, the employees make a conscious effort to give back to the community whenever they possibly can. Director of HR, Michelle Hayes, has made contributing to charity events a very real possibility for any employee within the company by setting up the iCare at Ipswitch program. By helping to set up events, as well as facilitating and assisting employees with charity events that they would like to initiate on their own, the program really adds to the great atmosphere we already have here within the office.
I had the opportunity to represent the WhatsUp Gold team and participate in one of these fantastic iCare events back on March 23rd, as I joined a group of fellow Ipswitch employees on a quest to make a difference in someone elses life. I know, sounds a bit dramatic, but it truly is refreshing to know that just by donating a couple hours of your time, you will help to make the life of someone less fortunate even just a little bit easier. I am definitely glad that I decided to attend this charity event and donate some of my time, so I thought I’d share my experience with you, our faithful DNM readers.
Our adventure took us into the heart of Boston, to a non-profit organization called Room to Grow. Founded in 1998, Room to Grow originated in New York City, but has thrived enough to allow them to open a second branch here in Boston. The Boston chapter of this organization is headed by Saskia Epstein, sister-in-law of Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, and is located on Berkley Street in Boston’s Back Bay. Taken from their website, “The mission of Room to Grow is to enrich the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development.” This program provides parents raising their babies in poverty with one-on-one parenting support and essential baby items throughout their child/children’s critical first three years of life. These resources are ones that would be otherwise unavailable to these parents, but at the same time so important in allowing a child to adjust properly early on.
So clearly, this organization really does a lot of great things for many people who truly need the services they have to offer. This made the decision for myself, as I’m sure it did for the rest of our group, to go into their facility and lend a helping hand that much easier. Overall the experience was phenomenal from start to finish. We were graciously welcomed by two members of the Room to Grow staff, as well as by Saskia Epstein. After a quick tour, and a detailed description of what they do on a daily basis, we got to work sorting and folding spring baby clothes as Room to Grow was transitioning from winter to spring. The mood was upbeat as we had the radio on, conversations were flowing, and our hosts from Room to Grow continued to fill us in on the specifics of the organization. We took a short break to enjoy some pizza for dinner before finishing up our work and saying goodbye to the wonderful people at Room to Grow.
A thank you certainly has to go out to the Room to Grow staff for allowing us to come in and make a little bit of a difference in the world. Also, to the great crew of Ipswitch employees who joined me in this fantastic event, you should all be very proud of yourselves.
The whole Ipswitch crew.
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