The past few weeks Konica Minolta employees across the country have been contributing to different activities for The Smith Family Christmas Appeal. Whether people have been busy buying, sorting, packing or delivering, all agree it has been a rewarding experience, especially approaching the holiday season.
The Smith Family has 20,000 requests for support this Christmas, with the aim to deliver 60,000 toys and 40,000 books to kids in need around Australia. And every contribution counts.
Together, our online and head office toy and book donations made 35 gift bundles valued at $1800. This was the first time rolling out the online donation platform, and we exceeded our target of 20 gift packs.
Sydney based volunteers joined in the warehouse sorting days, working long shifts to prepare the packs. Kristine Ekelund, from the Customer Service Department said, “I really enjoyed it! I always love working for a good cause, and I feel like I made a positive impact on the lives of others.”
Our participation culminated on Sunday when four Konica Minolta teams joined 2000 other drivers to deliver packages to families in need. The professionalism of the Smith Family made the experience even more enjoyable. This was the first year Bid Manager Sajan Jose was on the road, and he’ll be back again next year! “The warehouse experience was seamless; we drove in, volunteers packed the car while we received our brief, we pit stopped at the sausage sizzle on the way our where we met other volunteers, and then hit the road to make our deliveries. It was lots of fun and I’ll definitely join in again next year.”
Konica Minolta contributed 70 hours of volunteer leave and bundles of energy for the Smith Family this Christmas. But there is always room for more! As Nicole Reid reflected after her volunteer day, “It would have been great to have more KM people involved. It's also a wonderful way to get to know others that you work with.”
Konica Minolta offers two volunteering leave days each year and this year more than 600 hours have been shared with our charity partners. So, what are you waiting for? Make volunteering a part of your new year’s plan.
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