The season of giving has always been a time for us to pause, count our blessings, and reflect on what we are grateful for. It is also an opportunity to extend the spirit of giving to others, especially those in need, in our communities and neighborhoods.
At Cloud for Good, we recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the refresh of our VTO (Volunteer Time Off) program, Goodies Give Back. Through the Goodies Give Back program, Cloud for Good team members, or Goodies, can take time off to participate in impactful initiatives, including volunteering to address food insecurity, donating blood, and more. The refresh of the program introduced a dedicated internal Zoom communications channel where Goodies can share their volunteer stories and photos with one another. Thanks to everyone’s enthusiasm and generosity over the 2024 calendar year, we have seen an inspiring 14% increase in recorded VTO hours compared to last year through the Goodies Give Back program, and here are inspiring stories of what some of our Goodies have been doing with their volunteer time this year.
Walking for a Multiple Sclerosis-Free World
Marie Louise Keen, a New York-based Senior Cloud Consultant, used her VTO benefit to participate in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Walk MS event in New York City. National Multiple Sclerosis Society is one of Cloud for Good’s clients, and working alongside the organization on client projects at Cloud for Good inspired Keen to become more involved.
“At Cloud for Good, we work with so many awesome clients, but I was very touched by our work with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society,” shared Keen. “On nearly every call—from trainings to Jira/backlog refinement—they center why they do the work they do, which is supporting folks whom Multiple Sclerosis (MS) impacts, as well as their vision for the future: a world free of MS. It’s been cool to see how they intentionally connect their tech stack back to their mission in so many different contexts.”
Keen shared that a recent client project Cloud for Good helped build for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society was timed to coincide with their Walk MS Impact Day, where they have a goal of getting 30,000 registrations for their walks across the country. She has encouraged others to consider participating in a Walk MS event.
Recognizing and Celebrating Special Athletes
Tatiana Romanko, a Florida-based Marketing Cloud Consultant, used her VTO benefit to volunteer for Special Olympics Florida at their 2024 West Coast Region Golf Competition.
“I started the morning setting up skills competitions across the course,” shared Romanko, who joked that because of all the movement she did from setting up in the morning, she completed a 5K walk in the process. “I then spent the afternoon announcing awards and winners. Seeing all the smiles, cheers, happy tears, and sportsmanship over 4.5 hours of awards made my cheeks hurt from smiling! With all of Florida’s hurricanes, cleanup, and general craziness in the last few weeks, it was awesome to see so many athletes competing and receiving recognition for their efforts.”
Reading Books to Children
Employee Experience Lead Terimarie Degree used her VTO benefit to volunteer at the Next Door Milwaukee – Read with Me program multiple times this year.
“I volunteered in the spring and liked it so much I signed up again,” shared Degree. “In my most recent volunteer experience there, there was a larger group of volunteers present than in the times I was there in the past, which was fun. Some retired teachers, college students, and other folks were using their volunteer time from their jobs. It’s an awesome way to connect with the community and use our VTO benefit.”
Through the program, volunteers read books to children, who then can select a book to take home with them. Degree, a Milwaukee resident and mother of two, said that she enjoys the opportunity to read and connect with the young children in the program now that her children are in their teenage years. “I really miss the nights of reading to them before bed, so this is a great way to do something similar while connecting with kids in the community.”
Keeping National Shorelines Clean
Managed Services Practice Lead Kaitlyn Burns used her VTO benefit to volunteer with Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, a volunteer organization supporting the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
“I’m in the beach cleanup group,” shared Burns. “We walk up along the shorelines to remove debris and audit our haul for reporting. A somewhat interesting fact is that volunteer engagement and reporting is a metric that national parks use in their applications for federal funding. I live in Northern Michigan because of these natural spaces, and I am grateful for the opportunity to close my computer and steward the resources that are so important to me!” Within her volunteer role, Burns can wear a National Parks Service badge, which she says is a dream come true.
Serving Community Leaders and Raising Funds for Cancer
Vancouver-based Cloud for Good Account Director Nick LaGarde used VTO this year to volunteer at the Rotary District 5170 Conference in San Jose, CA with the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley. The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley is a part of the Rotary International organization, another client of Cloud for Good.
“I have been a member of Rotary and the eClub of Silicon Valley since 2019, and I served as club president from July 2023 to this past June,” shared LaGarde. “It is based in San Jose, but there are members worldwide. District 5170 is my Rotary District, and at our Rotary District Conference I had the opportunity to meet with Rotary leaders I’ve worked with for years.”
In addition to the conference, LaGarde volunteered his time to support fellow Rotary club members at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event in Santa Clara to raise funds for fighting cancer.
“Being able to use my Cloud for Good VTO benefit to take the time to participate in the Relay for Life event and raise money for cancer research and treatments has been really meaningful to my journey with Rotary,” said LaGarde.
Supporting the Asheville Community
Mitch Mull, Operations Coordinator at Cloud for Good, used VTO to volunteer his time helping community members impacted by Hurricane Helene. Mull resides in Asheville, NC, among the areas most heavily affected by the hurricane. The week after Helene had made landfall, Mull did a variety of activities to help those affected, from performing wellness checks, sorting, packing, and dropping off supplies, and even building tiny houses for those who had lost their homes.
“It was a real mix of emotions,” shared Mull, “I’m happy to be helping out, but it’s so sad at the same time that families were going through some tough times, and they likely still are.”
Mull also enjoys volunteering for local run/walk races. This year, he used his VTO benefit to be an event volunteer for an annual 5K race organized by Woodfin Elementary School in Asheville that supports the school’s back-to-school supply needs.
“We initially didn’t see many runners come through at packet pickup day because of rain and traffic,” said Mull, “but the weather on race day was great, and this was the largest turnout the race has ever had!”
In addition, Mull is involved with the Jus’ Running Race Team, a local community-based running group that competes and volunteers time in service for local race events. At one VTO opportunity, Mull and the group volunteered to clean up litter in downtown Asheville, sharing that a black bear, which Mull snapped a photo of, tried to partner with them in their efforts.
Caring for Animals and Donating Blood
Speaking of animals, Anne-Lise Millereux, a Vancouver-based Lead Developer, used her VTO benefit to volunteer at the Happy Herd Sanctuary, an animal rescue farm in British Columbia whose residents include turkeys, sheep, pigs, goats, chickens, and more.
“The volunteers and I cleaned the animals’ houses, gave them food and fresh water, and some good back scratches,” shared Millereux. She said that the pigs she met while volunteering at the sanctuary were the funniest, with one pig snoring loudly.
Millereux also used VTO to donate plasma with Canadian Blood Services.
“It was a great experience, and I’ve learned that the universal plasma donor has AB-type blood,” said Millereux. “I’m a universal blood donor, so my plasma donation will be more meaningful when I give blood next time. If a blood center is near you, I encourage others to consider donating plasma. It’s precious and helps a ton of health issues.”
At another VTO opportunity with Canadian Blood Services this year, Millereux donated blood alongside other fellow Vancouver-based Goodies, including the Managing Director of the Nonprofit Industry, Christine Pallen, and Senior Cloud Consultants Milena Mendes and Thomas Geyer.
“The blood center team was so welcoming to us for coming as a company,” shared Millereux. “Since it was our first team event there, we had a personalized note, treats, and signage to welcome us!”
Taking Steps for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
Cloud for Good also organizes company-wide volunteer and service opportunities throughout the year for Goodies across its distributed team to participate in, either as groups or individually, which they can use their VTO benefit towards. One company-wide service opportunity Goodies participated in this year was the annual Take Steps Challenge by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, another Cloud for Good client. The Take Steps Challenge is the largest fundraising walk event in the country, and proceeds go towards finding cures for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, two debilitating digestive diseases collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This year was the third time Cloud for Good sponsored the Take Steps Challenge and organized a company fundraising team, and an option for Goodies to participate in the challenge with their pets was introduced. Multiple Goodies seized the opportunity to participate in the challenge with their pets, and one cat even joined in the efforts.
We are incredibly grateful to all our Goodies who are making a difference in their communities, and we have no doubt that anyone whose lives have been impacted due to their service and generosity are also grateful.
With the giving season upon us, there are many more ways to volunteer our time and give back to our communities and those in need. Whether it’s serving at a local food pantry, running or walking in a race that supports a meaningful cause, organizing a gift drive or supply drive, donating blood, or simply checking in or saying hello to someone in the community, no act of charity, service, or generosity is ever too small to make this season of giving. There are so many more incredible stories of giving back at Cloud for Good, and we look forward to what we can accomplish together in 2025.
