Lending a helping hand on #FridayforGood

By
Tuesday, 18 November 2014

As we shared in June, #FridayforGood doesn’t just happen at our headquarters in San Francisco – it’s a tradition in which all our offices across the globe are excited to participate. People work at Twitter because they are passionate about changing the world, and one way we do this is in our communities by volunteering with local organizations.

This fall’s #FridayforGood took place on Nov. 7, and our employees volunteered at over 70 different projects across the globe. Whether conducting mock interviews with adult job seekers at the Jewish Vocational Service (@JVSBayArea) in San Francisco, or hosting workshops about creativity and self-esteem for children with special needs in Sydney, our employees are passionate about making a difference in the lives of others.

Here’s a snapshot of some of projects and organizations we joined up with across the world on #FridayforGood.

San Francisco Bay Area

Tenderloin Housing Clinic
At one of our largest projects, 75 volunteers spent the day repainting the Boyd Hotel, a low-income residency in the Tenderloin. Thanks to the amazing generosity of Jerry Thompson & Sons, Inc. (JTS) and paint donated by Kelly-Moore Paints, PPG Industries and Sherwin-Williams Paints, we partnered with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (@THClinicSF) to paint six floors throughout the day. This project would not have been possible without JTS’s time and expertise with onsite planning and orchestrating the paint donations.

De Marillac Academy
One group kicked off the big event a day early on Thursday when several students from De Marillac Academy (@DeMarillacSF) learned how to build a Raspberry Pi (a small, handheld computer) and make games using the affordable device.

Oakland Digital
Across the bay, several folks spent the afternoon at Oakland Digital (@ODALC), a community building organization that hosts programs and classes for under-resourced small businesses and design students. Volunteers joined the Oakland Digital team and talked about using Twitter as a social marketing platform and helped design students with their resumes.

United Playaz
One group hosted a workshop for United Playaz (@UP4LIFE) here at Twitter HQ. As a violence prevention and youth leadership organization, the team taught some members of United Playaz about internet safety and how to use Twitter.

At the end of the day, the San Francisco office held a Community Happy Hour celebration where the majority of partner organizations stopped by to enjoy food from local cafes and restaurants, along with performances by the Mural Music & Arts project (@muralmusicarts).

Read about the many other organizations we partnered with in San Francisco on the Twitter for Good Blog.

New York City

In New York City (@TwitterNYC), over 50 volunteers worked with two different organizations throughout the week. One team partnered with Citymeals-on-Wheels (@Citymeals), a group that provides more than two million meals to over 18,000 elderly New Yorkers in need. Another opportunity took place on #GivingTuesday when our NYC Madison office welcomed representatives from 22 charity organizations and we shared tips on the best ways for groups to promote their work.

Canada

Our team in Canada (@TwitterCanada) volunteered at the Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank (@DailyBreadTO). In addition to personal donations, the team sorted and packaged over 8,900 pounds of donated food, helping 594 families in the Toronto area. To provide context, the typical amount for a team food sort is approximately 3,000 pounds, so Twitter Canada definitely raised the bar.

Brazil

Our São Paulo office (@TwitterBrasil) also got involved in two projects throughout the day: donating blood and talking about internet safety. In the morning, the team hosted a blood donation session in partnership with Beaba (@beabaorg), an NGO focused on helping children with cancer, and Hospital AC Camargo (@haaccarmago), one of the largest oncological treatment centers. In the afternoon, members joined up with the Committee for Internet Democratization (@ongCDI) to talk about internet safety and privacy with teenagers and teachers at a school in a low-income neighborhood in São Paulo.


Dublin

@TwitterDublin partnered with several organizations. While some brave folks donated blood at a local blood donor clinic, others volunteered at the Irish Cancer Society (@IrishCancerSoc), staffing ICS charity shops in six different locations and helping on the tills, restocking shelves, sorting clothes and proving friendly assistance to customers. In addition, others partnered with Barnardos (@Barnardos) and took to the streets, shaking buckets and chatting with locals, raising nearly €800.



The group also teamed up with three other local groups. Some volunteers provided tips on job applications and recruitment processes for students with disabilities at Trinity College Dublin, a few put on a workshop about how to use Twitter for Fighting Words (@fightingtwitt) – an organisation that provides free tutoring and mentoring in the creative arts – and the office’s managing director Stephen McIntyre worked with a delegation of Young Leaders taking part in a Smart People, Smart Economy campaign sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and Foróige.


United Kingdom

The UK’s (@TwitterUK) #FridayforGood brought together creative workshops, mentoring and providing career support to more than 100 NGOs and charities, along with a hugely successful bake sale. The team joined creative workshops for safety partners Kick it Out (@kickitout) and Safer Internet Day, while staff from City Gateway (@citygateway) met with our team to learn about using Twitter to reach more young people and how to educate those they work with about their use of the platform.

The group also welcomed Comic Relief (@comicrelief) to provide tips on how to make this year’s campaign the most successful yet; Crisis (@crisis_uk), the UK national charity for single homeless people, to explore how they can support as many people possible during the Christmas period; and One Westminster, to discuss the challenges of finding a job, teaching interviewing skills and how to make their potential shine.

In addition, we hosted the first ever UK open-house session for the nonprofit sector where we saw more than 100 NGOs and charities. The organizations heard from Twitter UK’s sales, brand strategy, research and partnerships teams on how to make their messages go further, make their campaigns stronger and to achieve their objectives with Twitter.


Singapore

@TwitterSG partnered with Bright Hill Evergreen Home, a welfare home that provides shelter and health care to 240 disadvantaged elderly residents. The team prepared and distributed snacks and tidbits, hung out with residents and cleaned the building.

Korea

The entire Korea office (@TwitterKR) visited Bangbae Senior Citizens Welfare Service Center where they prepared free lunches for elderly residents. They prepped and distributed lunch for nearly 400 people, as well as cleaned the kitchen afterwards.

Japan

Our team in Tokyo (@TwitterJP) volunteered in three different ways during their first #FridayforGood. The group worked with the local city to clean the streets in the neighborhood around the office, along with donating foreign coins through UNICEF Japan (@UnicefinJapan) and donating clothes to Yofuku Post (@yofukupost). To learn more, check out their recap of the day.


Australia

Twitter Australia (@TwitterAU) participated with the @VarietyAU sponsored Starting With Art Program at the @ArtGalleryofSNW. The group joined 15 students from a school in Sydney’s south for an interactive workshop for kids with special needs that was designed to empower children to build self-esteem, learn more about art and have an opportunity to interact with others. To learn more, check out their recap of the day.

This is a small selection of some of great partnerships that took place on #FridayforGood. Our Washington, D.C. team joined up with Bright Beginnings (@sunnystarts) to decorate classrooms and read/play with kids. Folks in Los Angeles volunteered with LAs Best (@LasBest) where they did arts and crafts with kids at an elementary school in a low-income area. And Bostonians joined up with the Boston Boys and Girls Club (@BGCB_Boston) to assist with a maintenance project, along with the Woods Mullen Shelter (@Beyond_Shelter) to spend time engaging the kids in activities.

A huge thank you to all our partners and volunteers. We can’t wait to team up with you again for our next #FridayforGood.