Whether you do it or not, we all know about volunteering: doing good deeds to help others, for free. Wikipedia has a fancier definition:
“Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity where an individual or group provides services for no financial or social gain ‘to benefit another person, group or organization.’ Volunteering is also renowned for skill development and is often intended to promote goodness or to improve human quality of life. Volunteering may have positive benefits for the volunteer as well as for the person or community served.”
5 interesting volunteering facts:
- Individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 are the most likely to volunteer their time according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- 63 million Americans volunteer about 8 billion hours of their time, talent, and effort to improve people’s lives and the natural world.
- The most popular volunteer activity is around collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving food.
- Volunteering is estimated to be worth around $24 per hour.
- And volunteering is good for your mental and physical health!
Onset takes volunteering to heart: it even has its own acronym…GADOO. GADOO stands for "Give A Day On Onset."
Onset’s Chief Administrative Office, Laurie Colwell, describes GADOO as,
“… an important piece of Onset's culture. Employees enjoy being able to take time away from their work day to support different organizations in our community. Onset enjoys giving back to the community and will continue to grow the GADOO program.”
This year, Onset has about two people per month volunteering as part of the GADOO program. Employees often give their time to help organizations like the local Bourne food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, and the Special Olympics.
The ways that Onset gives back to its community doesn’t end there.
Every year around the holidays, Onset supports a local Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots initiative.
Onset also hosts the Bourne Special Workshop Opportunities Program (SWOP) Valentine’s Dance. The Onset Band has been playing for the SWOP Valentines dance since 1993.
Below, Onset software engineer Ian Jones helps out at our local Bourne Food Pantry:
About his time volunteering, Ian said he spent time with...
"An amazing group of people, nearly all the dozen or so people there helping were volunteers, and many have been doing it for a long time. I was blown away at the amount of food that is donated, especially how much fresh produce was there. Over all, it was a lot of fun and was nice to help."
Learn more about Onset, its history, and culture.
Interested in working at a company that integrates volunteerism as part of its company culture? Check out our current job openings.
