Coupa Employees Give Back at First “Global Volunteer Day”

This summer,  209 Coupa employees from nine different offices in five different countries volunteered 862 hours at nine organizations to bring measurable, positive impact to respective communities. Coupa’s first “Global Volunteer Day” was successful thanks to employees around the world who joined forces on Thursday, June 8 to help Coupa give back.

While Coupa is not new to corporate giving—the Coupa Cares program has already laid the foundation for employee giving with volunteer events such as sorting at food banks, serving meals to those in need, and mentoring fourth and fifth graders from local communities—this year the Coupa Team increased commitment to corporate philanthropy by joining Pledge 1%.

This is a movement that challenges companies to pledge one percent of equity, product and employee time to their communities. To meet that challenge, we’re focused on increasing employee participation and maximizing our impact through strategic partnerships with non-profit organizations. With that in mind, the Coupa Team dedicated an entire day towards giving back to local communities all around the world.

Close to headquarters, 61 volunteers spent their day in San Mateo with LifeMoves helping spruce up their largest facility, First Step for Families. LifeMoves has 17 Bay Area sites that house approximately 725 homeless individuals and families each night. The organization focuses on providing transitional housing and services that create opportunities for people to return to stable housing and long-term self-sufficiency.

Volunteers worked on the “Therapy Cottage,” an area used for individual and small group therapy, and painted staff offices and a hallway recently damaged when a water pipe burst.   

Volunteers also had options to plant flowers, clean, paint, or set up new furniture. To see the volunteers conquering these tasks, check out the action here!

“It means a lot to both the clients we serve and to employees to have a facility they feel comfortable in. Our clients tell us repeatedly that the care, concern, and commitment of our volunteers play a critical role in helping them believe that they can get back on their feet,” said Donna Hope, Manager of Corporate Volunteer Programs at LifeMoves.

We had enough volunteers turn up to do a top-notch job with two coats of paint, something that normally would take multiple volunteer groups to get done. Volunteers also spent time outside trimming bushes and planting flowers along walkways.

Cara Sivara, Coupa’s marketing events coordinator, helped with planting flowers around the children’s playground. “We get caught up in our daily tasks and it’s nice to take a few hours out of the day to help someone who really needs it,” she said. “I didn’t know LifeMoves existed and it was a heartwarming experience to see what this non-profit is doing for people in our own community.”

The Coupa Team helps customers save money on business purchasing daily, so we felt good knowing we saved LifeMoves $7,000 to support neighbors on their journey back to permanent housing—about $4,000 on time and labor, and $3,000 for paint, furniture and landscaping materials, which we donated.

“We have 17 sites between Daly City and San Jose,” Hope said. “LifeMoves strives to create safe, warm, and inviting facilities for our homeless neighbors to learn and grow on their personal path to self-sufficiency. Volunteer groups like Coupa play a vital role in bridging the gap between the resources available and the needs of the community.”

Elsewhere around the world, volunteers worked at food banks, put together kits for Syrian refugee children, raised money for breast cancer, and worked in a garden, among other things.

“I felt very proud to work at a company where everyone around the world could come together to work towards helping others. It was especially rewarding to see the pictures of all the great things that people were doing in such faraway cities as Dublin and Pune,” said Charlene Wang, Senior Manager, Coupa Expenses GTM, Product Marketing and Business Operations.

Here’s a look at the efforts of volunteers around the globe:

Australia:

The Coupa Australia team spent their day with the annual “Mothers Day Classic,” which has raised $30 million over the past 20 years to fund more than 30 breast cancer projects in Australia.

Canada:

The Canadian team volunteered at the Sharing Farm, a community run program dedicated to providing fresh and healthy local produce to less fortunate neighbors

Dublin:

The Dublin team spent their day working with young people in Dublin’s inner city YMCA, which runs programs in youth work, education, family support, community childcare and community employment. The team participated in a kid’s puppet show, helped with a bouncy castle for little kids and put together goodie bags for movie night.

London:

The London team partnered with Donate4Refugees to assemble 500 kits of clothing and toiletries to be distributed to Syrian refugees in Calais, France.

Mid-West:

The Midwest team spent their day at Gigi’s playhouse in Chicago, a Down Syndrome Achievement Center that aims to change the way the world views people with the genetic disorder. They stuffed 2,000 goodie bags for a 5K fun run, and accompanied the GiGi University team on a mile walk after taking a class on circuit training with them.

Nevada: 

The Nevada Team spent their day volunteering at a Food Bank in three shifts throughout the day. The Food Bank said they’ve never had so many volunteers from one source before!

New York:

In New York, the team served 352 people dinner at the New York Food Bank.

Pune:

The volunteers from the Pune team played, read & spent time with the children in the Sarthak orphanage.

We’ve seen how much #coupacares and the Coupa team is #coupaproud after the first Global Volunteer Day. To see more buzz around these topics, search the hashtags #Pledge1, #coupacares and #coupaproud on twitter.