Sharing Talent, Technology, Time

Here at Global Citizenship we've been busy ramping up for Sun's Worldwide Volunteer Week which will be held between April 26 - May 4, 2008. This event is a mass mobilization of Sun employee volunteers across the globe. This will be my first WWVW with Sun. In helping to plan for this event, it has been very useful to reflect on past projects.  Last years WWVW drew the participation of over 1,300 volunteers in 13 countries on 27 different Sun Campuses. Sun volunteers participated in a variety of projects. Team Edmonton, Canada worked with Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a low-income family. Team Belo Horizonte, Brazil, inspired 67 percent of employees at their site to donate blood. Team Santiago, Chile, worked with Shelter of Hope to take children on a museum tour and then host a feast at the agency.

Two weeks ago I had the fortune of meeting, in person, one of our Volunteer Team Managers from India, Vidya Srinivasan. By day, Vidya is Financial Controller, Sun India and Global Sites. On her off time, Vidya does an amazing job coordinating the Herculean efforts of her volunteer team.  In one of their many WWVW 2007 projects, Team India helped to set up a computer library in the Bakul Foundation Children's Library. The library is in Bhubaneswar, and is one of the best libraries for children in India, with over 7000 books in its collection. Sun donated monitors and servers and Team India volunteers gave of their time and talent to develop the lab, which facilitates the free use of multimedia resources by disadvantaged children, who have no access to technology otherwise. Each year, Team India shines as fantastic role models for volunteers everywhere.

My role is managing Sun's Volunteer Activities outside of the US. I hope to not only support and document the amazing projects of our already engaged employees but also facilitate opportunities for newer employees or those who are currently less engaged to make a difference through volunteering. We are currently seeking project ideas that work towards Sun's social mission, to eliminate the Digital Divide. If you know about any projects that you think would be a good fit for Sun employees to donate their talent to, please post them below.