It’s that time of year again. People are gathering with old friends, spending time with family, and looking for ways to lend a helping hand. At Hook 42, that’s what we look forward to the most, being able to give back and help people however we can. We do our best to continue to give and be part of our communities throughout the year. In light of Giving Tuesday, we wanted to talk a little bit about what it means to us to be involved and support those around us and how we’re giving back this holiday season.
From our inception, we built Hook 42 on values that support community involvement and creating an inclusive atmosphere. We encourage our team to be as involved as they want to be in the Drupal, or tech, community from the day they join. As we grow, we continue to support local Drupal meetups, help organize events, speak and do trainings at conferences, as well as provide support for our colleagues who are taking on any career-growth and skill-building initiatives.
Beyond involvement with the career-based community, we also encourage our team to look to their local communities and support the causes that mean the most to them individually. We understand the importance of recognizing the needs of others and lending a hand whenever we have a chance to do so. That’s why we encourage our team to do that not only with each other but with those outside of Hook 42 as well.
Being part of the community is a continuous effort, it’s not just a one and done kind of thing for us. This year, we took a step back to analyze all the ways we have given back in the past. Be it through charitable contributions as a company, or spreading that to employees individually to contribute to local charities and causes, we continue to explore new ways of paying it forward.
This year, we wanted to do something that not only empowered our employees to give but helped as many people as we could, in a variety of ways. We took the concept of charitable donation and added a twist. Each employee was given 25 Kiva dollars, to pay it forward via microlending.
With a platform like Kiva, our employees have the ability to continue to take that $25 and give it to the next person or donate it back to Kiva so they can continue their cause. The initial $25 is given as a microloan to a person or group of their choosing. Most of Kiva’s loans support people in third world countries, to provide people the opportunity to improve their standard of living. The ways to contribute are endless with Kiva, and the amount of people that have benefited from something like this is unmatchable.
So far, our team has donated to people looking to get better medical care for their children, streamline their business, get supplies for their farm, learn a new skill, and more. The best part about it, is we’ve helped people all over the world, from Peru to Guatemala to India to Ecuador to Kenya to Armenia and everywhere in between. Check out our team feed on Kiva to see the variety of initiatives we’re backing and where we are supporting others around the world.
As we continue to give back, we will help provide more opportunities to a broader range of individuals looking for a little support. We’re so glad to be able to help people with great stories and great causes all around the world.
We encourage you, reader, to do the same. It doesn’t have to be with Kiva, but take $25 and give it to someone who needs just a little more help than you this holiday season. One person can make a huge impact on someone else’s life, and it only takes you giving them the opportunity to make that difference.