Everyone has a story. Ask the person sitting next to you if they give to charity, and you will hear everything from “Yes I give,” “I have a handful of causes I like to support,” “No, I can’t afford to,” to “I give when I can, to things that I think are important.” Then ask what they do to help others, and the responses will be as varied as the people responding.
CableLabs endeavors to impact our community by supporting our staff in their varied responses to these two questions. “CableLabs Gives” is the umbrella program that supports our philanthropic champions. Through matching contributions and monetary support for volunteer projects our employees are encouraged to get involved in what they are passionate about and share that passion.
According to Network for Good, there are 14 motivators for giving and volunteering:
- Someone asked me to give, and I wanted to help them
- I felt emotionally moved by someone’s story
- I want to feel I’m not powerless in the face of need and can help (this is especially true during disasters)
- I want to feel I’m changing someone’s life
- I feel a sense of closeness to a community or group
- I want to memorialize someone (who is struggling or died of a disease, for example)
- I was raised to give to charity—it’s tradition in my family
- I want to be “hip,” and supporting this charity (i.e., wearing a yellow wristband is in style
- It makes me feel connected to other people and builds my social network
- I want to have a good image of myself/my company
- I want to leave a legacy that perpetuates me, my ideas or my cause
- I feel fortunate and want to give something back to others
- I give for religious reasons—my faith teaches me to help others
- I want to be seen as a leader/role model
At CableLabs, we take an active interest in our own community by supporting numerous programs:
- Denver Fire Fighters Burn Foundation
- College of Engineering & Applied Science
- Therapeutic Riding Center
- Community Food share
- Humane Society of Boulder Valley
- Humane Society of South Platte Valley
- Niwot Elementary PTAC
- Foothills United Way
- The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Freedom Service Dogs
- Habitat for Humanity St Vrain
- Movember Foundation
For this holiday season, employees voted and selected the Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families as the recipient of our holiday giving program.
Why Wild Plum?
Wild Plum Center empowers families and prepares children for the future. The center has been providing early childhood education and development services to Longmont’s low-income families offering pre-school programs for three, four and five-year-olds since 1965. In 2010 they began providing developmental services for children aged zero to three, as well as pregnant women. In addition to the pre-school programs, families are assigned a Family Education or Program Specialist that offer individualized, in-home support.
Wild Plum Center relies on contributions from the community with gifts of financial support, supplies and services to provide essential assistance to children and their families. This year’s holiday program is asking employees to give materials needed to build art or literacy bags for children enrolled at Wild Plum Center. Bags will be delivered to each child so that they can build creative and quiet spaces for an “art studio” and “library” in their home.
Creating art promotes self-esteem, teaches children to use their senses, stimulates the brain and nourishes a child’s creative spirit. Reading develops stronger language skills, demonstrates how communication works and helps bond parent and child. It’s never too early to help shape the success of our future generations and help children creatively learn.
With the holiday season in full gear, it’s natural to get into the spirit of giving. But here at CableLabs, charitable giving is always in season. Subscribe to our blog to find out more about our CableLabs Gives program and how you can help us give back to our community.