For every employee who wears pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month, RAND Donates $25 to Living Beyond Breast Cancer.
As we kick off the holiday season, RAND prepares for #GivingTuesday by reflecting on all the hard work our RAND Gives Back volunteers have done throughout the year to give back to our community. The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving is commemorative as the global day of giving known as #GivingTuesday. Spearheaded by New York’s 92 Y in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, #GivingTuesday encourages global charities, families, businesses, community centers, students, and others to take collective action to improve their communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they believe in, and help create a better world.
In honor of #GivingTuesday, RAND reflects back on our annual Pink for Breast Cancer in October. It is a day where our staff bands together in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month by dashing on anything pink. For every employee who participates, RAND donates $25 to Living Beyond Breast Cancer, a national nonprofit organization that provides information and support to those who are newly diagnosed, in treatment, post-treatment, or living with metastatic disease. This year, together we reached $950 in donations!
RAND employees meet virtually to create literacy kits for children in need via Volunteer NY.
One of our other annual RAND Gives Back initiatives that we moved to virtually is creating literacy kits for Head Start Programs in Westchester County, via Volunteer New York. Our volunteers created literacy kits including a picture book with stuffed animals that contain interactive activities to address comprehension, story elements, writing, comparing, and describing. The kits are donated to local elementary schools and after school centers serving children in need.
RAND employees took the time to create snuffle mats for our furry friends in need. They were donated to Best Friends Animal Rescue.
A new initiative that we welcomed in 2021 are snuffle mats for our furry friends in need! Snuffle mats provide a host of benefits for pets including mental stimulation and entertainment, slow down fast eaters, help pets to burn energy, and can help to stave off doggy dementia. Our snuffle mats were donated to Best Friends Animal Rescue, a no-kill animal rescue that promotes adoption and spay-and-neuter practices. They were fun and super easy to make; our volunteers came up with creative designs, and we are hoping to bring this event back next year!
During the pandemic, RAND continues to practice safe protocols and social distancing for our RAND events. This year, we were happy to be able to bring back some in-person activities while others remained virtual for the safety of our staff.
Joanna Kuther is RAND's Operations Manager.
