Together as One on Giving Tuesday – 11 Million Meals + Served

Each year, on Giving Tuesday, we reflect on our commitment to the communities in which we live and work. Although 2020 has been an atypical year, Protiviti’s i on Hunger Together as One Campaign is happy to announce that the campaign helped us grow our donations beyond the 11 million meals threshold.

The Together as One campaign helped us coalesce and gave us something positive to focus on over the last few months. “Our people found creative ways to raise money, donate, volunteer, and pull in our clients to help us reach this goal,” says Suzanna, adding, “It’s been remarkable to hear from our people around the globe as they innovated and developed new ways to reach people in need.”

Power in Numbers

Some of the most notable projects are represented by Protiviti offices and regions that pulled together to drive involvement and donations.

Protiviti’s Metro D.C. office held a Virtual Cart Fundraiser in partnership with Feeding Children Everywhere, which brought our people together and invited clients to participate. Managing Directors, Gary Callaghan and Scott Kamenick, Manager, Brian Ledwith, Senior Consultant, Chase Johnson, and Marketing Specialist, Molly Bryant, were key organizers, and together with a lot of help and support, they have donated more than 250,000 meals through this single campaign.

The Chicago office iCare committee hosted the “i on Hunger – Together as One Virtual Run/Walk” during the month of October. The event was kicked off with a presentation from Rise Against Hunger that discussed the current, unique need to raise funds to provide meals during a global pandemic. Protiviti offices across the region combined together for a total of 118 participants. Throughout the month, we monitored the top fundraisers and our own 5K leaderboard. At the conclusion of the event, we were able to raise funds that equate to 50,932 meals!

In Brazil, our Member Firm hosted a food drive in their four offices across the country. The food drive ends December 4, and we’ll be eager to hear how efforts in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Alphaville, and Rio de Janeiro sum up over the next few days.

And of course, we were delighted to hear the announcement at Protiviti’s Managing Director Conference of donations to two organizations equating to 71,250 meals.

Each Contribution Matters

Across the globe, we have been inundated with examples of how Protiviti employees have aimed to help their communities. We recently heard from Thelma Kgono in our South Africa office who wrote, “Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have not been able to have any events. We have only been able to purchase groceries and deliver them to the learners on a monthly basis.” She sent a series of photos featuring meal recipients, including the image above. Making a difference one meal at a time is what it’s all about.

Our South Africa Member Firm provided meals to sponsor students

Organizing from Home

Jim Petrie, Vice President of Operations, and his family have been involved in the Feeding Ministry at their church for over 10 years. “During pre-COVID times, we delivered food twice a month to the downtown Houston location in the 4th Ward for those in need,” he says. “When the coronavirus hit and locked the community down, as well as churches, my wife and I personally took on the challenge to source product, assemble sack lunches, and deliver them to this downtown community on a weekly basis. We plan to keep this up until our church community reopens and the volunteers return.”

Jim Petrie and his son, Trey, prepare packed lunches at home to distribute in downtown Houston

Pulling Resources for Immediate Help

Annapoorani Krishnan, a Consultant in our Chennai, India Member Firm, wrote, “At the start of lockdown there was a lot of hustle for many of us, but more than that, livelihood was affected for migration workers, families dependent on small shops and street vendors.

“When I was thinking what could be done from home, a friend of mine suggested we could pool money and route it through local provision stores and ask them to supply food to the needy. My friend reached out to his resources and started gathering information about affected people.

“We collected money and donated, helping 210 families and distributing around 2.25 Lakhs (more than $250,000 USD) worth of provisions.”

Instilling Commitment to Service in the Next Generation

Innovating the old-fashioned lemonade stand, two Dallas kids find a way to collect donations

“Not just during the Covid-19 pandemic, but at all times there are people in need of food, water, clothing, and money to cover expenses,” says Kevin Rohrbach, a Managing Director in our Dallas office. “My oldest daughter, Zoe and her friend Olivia (along with a few other kids) wanted to help in any way they could, so they organized a lemonade and popsicle stand in our neighborhood. Instead of selling these items, they would gladly give anyone who stopped by with a canned food item either a popsicle or lemonade, their choice. Over the course of the afternoon they were able to raise $55 in cash donations along with two boxes of canned food that they delivered to our local food bank, 5 Loaves Pantry.”

Hear from More of Our Team

#MyProtivitiStory: We believe the best way to understand the core of our organization is through our people. These short videos are a reflection of our people’s stories and experiences.