Since we’re not the kind of company to let a lack of funds hold us back from having fun, Aaron, Ben, Keith and I brainstormed some ideas over lunch one day for an inexpensive Summer Outing. [Earlier in the summer, we hosted an event which depleted our funds for a traditional (read: expensive) Summer Outing, like a cook-out/BBQ, Red Sox game, etc.] The idea that won out was one that revolved around volunteering. Our rationale was that there’d be no cost to the company (aside from potentially providing lunch), and there’d be lots of benefits (we thought) on a personal level, as well as for the company and community. With that said, we floated the idea at a company meeting. It seemed like everyone was generally enthusiastic, and I happily volunteered to spearhead the effort.

As I started to research our options, I was surprised to learn that many organizations not only require you to donate your time, but to also make a sizeable monetary donation. (So much for minimizing our costs…) In addition, there are very few organizations that are able to accommodate a group of our size (50+ people). I made lots of frantic calls and settled on a list of about six organizations.

In order to have Service Day approved, I’d need to present my list to Dave and David (our COO), and I walked out of the Dave/David meeting feeling pretty good because we all agreed on the same organization/event. But then later that same day came an anonymous Company Meeting question/comment. It appears below as paraphrased by Kurt in the meeting minutes:

Question: I do not agree with having a volunteer exercise as a company outing for two reasons: 1) We should all volunteer anyway and 2) it would detract from the reason for having a company outing-to learn, grow and develop as not just a company but as individuals jointly invested in the same objective.

After hearing this comment, I was taken aback for a couple of reasons: 1) I was responsible for organizing the volunteer event, so I couldn’t help but think, “Was this a personal dig at me?” (if so, that’s fine), and 2) I thought volunteering together would help us achieve this person’s stated goal to “learn, grow and develop…”

Unsurprisingly, I started to question myself. Had I made a mistake? Was everyone secretly cursing me out for suggesting that we spend our time volunteering? Were people going to hate the task I’d recommended for Service Day? I figured that regardless of what this one person thought, I’d just have to proceed and hope for the best.

So, I’m happy to report that our Summer Outing was a success. (I think) Last Friday, we spent the day harvesting fruits and vegetables, weeding, mulching and doing other assorted tasks at The Food Project farm in Lincoln, MA. The Food Project is an AMAZING organization, and I encourage you to learn more about them. While on the farm, we:

• Harvested over 700 lbs of carrots
• Harvested another 700 lbs of winter squash
• Cleaned over 1,000 lbs of onions which will be put in storage until a food shelter is ready for them
• Seeded and planted over 5 acres of land to help prepare fields for the fields for next season

I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish that day as a company, and I tend to think that our actions are a reflection of who we are and what we believe in — not just as individuals, but also collectively as a group. I hope that everyone enjoyed himself/herself that day, that our time made people feel closer to each other, and that we were able, as my anonymous colleague stated, “to learn, grow and develop as not just a company but as individuals jointly invested in the same objective.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 6:32 pm and is filed under The Central Hive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.