Supporting communities across the globe on #FridayforGood

This spring’s #FridayforGood took place on April 17, when more than 1,550 employees volunteered at over 70 different projects across the globe. Whether canvassing for a marriage equality referendum in Dublin, planting trees in Detroit or serving food in Singapore to migrant workers, our employees are passionate about making a difference in the lives of others.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the projects and organizations we joined up with across the world on what we call #FridayforGood (and here’s our summary of activities in our hometown of San Francisco).

United States

Boston

Our @TwitterBoston team spent the day supporting the Boys & Girls Club (@BGCB_Boston) and Boston GLASS (@Boston_GLASS). At the Boys & Girls Club, an organization that helps young people build strong character and realize their full potential, folks cleaned their facilities and helped kids with art, music, homework, computers and sports. Boston GLASS is a group that provides counseling, advocacy and referrals for health care services and housing, and a drop-in center to LGBTQ teens and young adults. Our team helped assemble safe-sex packets and then handed them out around Boston. We partnered with @TwitterOpen for the former volunteer opportunity to help strengthen the connection between Boston GLASS and the LGBTQ community.

Seattle
Here we partnered with Treehouse (@TreehouseTweets), an organization that works with foster kids to help them pursue their dreams. The @TwitterSeattle team helped sort clothes and toys that will be donated to foster kids across the Seattle area, and helped set up for a fundraising party Treehouse was hosting later in the evening.

New York City
In New York, @TwitterNYC volunteered with four groups across the city: The Food Bank for NYC (@FoodBank4NYC), Habitat for Humanity NYC Chapter (@HabitatNYC), City Meals on Wheels (@Citymeals) and The Ronald McDonald House (@rmhnewyork). Among other tasks, we cleaned and organized the Ronald McDonald House, which hosts over 80 families facing pediatric cancer, and we painted and revitalized a senior center on the Upper West Side.

Chicago
Our @TwitterChicago volunteers worked on a few home builds for Windy City Habitat for Humanity (@habitatchicago) in the West Pullman neighborhood. Teams worked to measure, cut and lay subflooring; we also cleaned and repaired windows and fixtures, hung exterior soffit and started the framing for a new house. The team also raised some $1,300 for Windy City Habitat’s future projects.

Detroit
On a warm spring morning, Twitter Detroit teamed up with Greening of Detroit (@GreeningDetroit) to plant neighborhood trees. It was a great to be part of a greening project, and we hope to team up again soon for more beautification in Detroit.

Washington, D.C.
Our D.C. employees refreshed the play area at Strong John Thomson Elementary School (@ThomsonES), a D.C. public school (@DCPublicSchools). Since the weather wasn’t cooperating, we worked on two indoor playgrounds and the gym, cleaning spaces and wiping down toys and play areas. This was the second time we’ve supported this downtown school, and it was once again a great opportunity to help freshen up the areas kids love and use every day.

Los Angeles
Our @TwitterLA office partnered with LA’s Best (@LAsBEST), which works with schools across Los Angeles to provide safe and supervised after-school education and recreation programs. We spent the afternoon at Grand View Elementary School, assisting kids by making paper kites and clay pots, painting, and other arts and crafts fun.

Global

Ireland
Our @TwitterDublin team worked with two organizations on #FridayforGood – YesEquality (@YesEquality2015) and Dublin Simon Community (@Dublin_Simon) – and also held a how-to workshop for Irish NGOs. Following on Managing Director Stephen McIntyre’s commentary in The Irish Times, which made the business case for a “yes” vote in the upcoming Irish marriage equality referendum on May 22, our volunteers took to the streets to canvass for this important cause.

Some of our Dubliners also helped with the Simon Community, a charity working to reduce homelessness across Ireland. We ran a clothing drive in the office, delivered the goods to the charity’s sorting facility and prepared donations for presentation in charity stores. And then several staffers held an NGO workshop to offer advice and Twitter best practices to 53 attendees. The session covered case studies of great campaigns, highlighting best practices and common pitfalls.

Singapore
Our Singapore office organized #FridayForGood activities around a group of migrant workers. Often marginalized, there are some half a million people who work in temporary construction, domestic help and other short-term jobs. With @TwitterSG soon moving into a new building, we focused on the workers constructing the new office — 90 young men doing construction, carpentry, plumbing and electrical wiring. We honored their hard work with an event we called #UnderConstruction, for which we served them a catered lunch and had them participate in an art project. They wrote messages on small cards, which were assembled into an image of a fingerprint, symbolizing the imprint each one has made. The workers are as much part of the Twitter story in Singapore as the rest of us, and this artwork will be displayed once the new office is completed.

Japan
Our @TwitterJP team worked with the local city office for their district, Minato-ku on a clean-up campaign. Located in one of the biggest areas for nightlife in Tokyo, the neighborhood needs cleaning help after every evening. Our team took to the streets and picked up cigarettes, bottles and cans.

Spain
The @TwitterSpain team worked with Fundación Ademo (@FundacionAdemo) to join a group of 28 mentally disabled kids (ages 3-9) for a guided tour of the Madrid zoo and aquarium. Accompanied by 10 educators and two zoo guides, the kids had fun socializing with new people and interacting with the animals.

Italy
Our @TwitterItalia team in Milano joined forces with Casa di Solidarietà di via Saponaro a Milano to serve 400 meals at a local soup kitchen. The group spent the day welcoming many who came through the doors, serving a warm meal and offering companionship.

UK
The @TwitterUK team organized four workshops for two London groups, Code First Girls (@CodeFirstGirls) and Access Aspiration (@accessplacement). With Code First Girls, we welcomed around 100 women who recently graduated college to discuss careers in tech and how some of us came to work at Twitter in roles ranging from engineering and product to sales and media.

Access Aspiration works with students to raise their awareness and goals for their future employment. The organization brought two groups of young students to our office to talk about gaining skills for work, thinking about university education, and how to take advantage of the Twitter platform to find work.

Australia
The @TwitterAU team spent #FridayforGood at Our Big Kitchen (@OurBigKitchen) making meals using food rescued by SecondBite (@SecondBite_org). The 100 healthy meals the team made went to community groups who work with the homeless and near-homeless in Sydney. Our team was grateful to share this time with the passionate people who run the two organizations, and we look forward to continuing our support.

Belgium
Our small but mighty team in Brussels partnered with De Kampenhoeve (@kampenhoeve), which offers therapeutic treatment for people with mental or physical disabilities by brushing and cuddling donkeys. The team cleaned up a large outdoor area for a planned expansion of the facility for the animals and their new friends.

Germany
Our @TwitterDE teams in Berlin and Hamburg collected clothes for donation to local charities. In Hamburg, we supported Luthergemeinde Bahrenfeld, a group that helps refugees. In Berlin, we donated to Menschen helfen Menschen e.V., which works with impoverished people in the area, including pre-school programs.

Our team also invited WWF, Oxfam, Transparency International and Betterplace.org in for a workshop to share best Twitter practices and tips on running campaigns.

Netherlands
Our Amsterdam team (@TwitterNL) headed to the Ronald McDonald House (@RMcDhuisAMC) to clean the garden and prepare dinner for some 40 parents there to be near their hospitalized children. Not having to prepare their own meals after a long intense day of medical dealings was a huge relief; we were happy to make things just a bit easier for them.

France
The team in Paris (@TwitterFrance) worked on three projects throughout the day: they presented to Girls in Tech Paris (@GITParis) to empower more women to have a voice on Twitter; we trained @eenfance volunteers about Internet safety; and we rebuilt a shelter space with a French NGO that fights poverty.

That’s all for this roundup, but not for our volunteer activities. We aim to continue being good neighbors and supporters wherever we do business.