Archive for the ‘community service’ Category

Stop Hunger Now!

Monday, July 19th, 2010
Our tRP office turns into a massive operation!

Our tRP office turns into a massive operation!

On Saturday, July 17th a big group of our amazing team members came back to the office (on a weekend!) for a day of community service. Working with the  group Stop Hunger Now, our team members (and their families and friends) set after a lofty goal of packaging 150,000 meals in one single day. These meals will be sent to schools and orphanages in Haiti and Swaziland.

The day opened with a training session and intro from the people over at Stop Hunger Now. They showed our group a short video about where the meals were headed and why they were going there. We were all shocked the learn that worldwide, a child dies of hunger every 6 seconds. Stop Hunger Now exists with the purpose to end starvation from hunger in our lifetime. Since we love people with aggressive and, not to mention, socially conscious goals- we knew we had to do whatever we could to help.

With our hair nets on and training complete, we hit the assembly tables to sign up for jobs such as packaging the meals, sealing, running the packages to the weighing station, boxing, labeling, and then getting the boxes onto the truck. Music was playing, and the Stop Hunger now folks made it fun for us by ringing a huge gong every time we hit a milestone of five thousand meals. For two hours, we were having fun and working hard, and huge cheers erupted every time a gong went off.

By the end of our two hour shift, we were spent but were able to take home a sense of accomplishment and pride for a job well done. We were also humbled to know that each package of rice we created each feeds one person for 6 meals (almost a week).
To get involved with Stop Hunger Now visit www.stophungernow.org


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A Day At The Beach

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

apch-beach-event-q2-2010-girls-clean-up-crew2On Monday, June 28th 80 volunteers from our LA office and 120 kids from the South Los Angeles after school program A Place Called Home hit the beach for a rewarding day of cleaning up the sand, swimming, surfing lessons, volleyball, soccer and ultimate frisbee at Will Rogers State Beach.

The clouds were upon us in the morning, which didn’t stop the kids from jumping in the water! In the morning we spent the first hour cleaning up the beach, simultaneously teaching the kids about conservation. Then after working up a sweat filling up trash bags, we had our resident surfers teach kids on foam boards kindly donated by Rip Curl (thanks guys!), our volleyball gurus leading games, our soccer stars running up and down the sandy field with the kids, and our ultimate frisbee experts teaching kids how to throw a frisbee and shoot for the end zone.

A Place Called Home has a mission that certainly inspires us: “To provide at-risk youth with a secure, positive family environment where they can regain hope and belief, earn trust and self-respect, and learn skills to lead a productive lifestyle free of the gangs, drugs, and poverty that surround them. We help inner city youth find their dreams through educational enrichment.” Thank you APCH for all you do!

All in all, it was a great day for both adults and kids. We formed genuine relationships with many of the kids there, definitely the most rewarding piece of the day. It definitely reminded us what is so great about life and this team. We can’t wait to do it again!


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The Cinderella Project

Friday, March 19th, 2010

cinderellaproject1The Rubicon Project is proud to partner with an organization that inspires us, the after school program A Place Called Home. As part of the Cinderella Project, we brought our team together to donate (as well as reach out to family and friends) gently used prom, bridesmaid, or other formal dresses. The dresses then find better homes- to be seen at proms at local high schools. Ahhh the memories.

The Cinderella Project is a Los Angeles-based program dedicated to building the self-esteem of underprivileged teenage girls by providing them with beautiful formal wear for special occasions in their lives. A Place Called Home (APCH) is a haven within South Central Los Angeles dedicated to providing at-risk youth with a secure, positive family environment where they can regain hope and belief, earn trust and self respect and learn skills to lead a productive lifestyle free of the gangs, drugs and poverty that surrounds them.

TO MAKE A DONATION: Please deliver or mail gently used or new dresses, shoes and/or accessories, directly to A Place Called Home/The Cinderella Project c/o Melissa Molina, 2830 S. Central Ave., LA, CA 90011. For questions please call Melissa Molina 323-232-7652 ext 324 or email cinderellaproject@apch.org.


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Dishing Up Hope

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Courtney Chapman and Solomon Ko making a difference at the Midnight Mission in Downtown LA

Courtney Chapman and Solomon Ko making a difference at the Midnight Mission in Downtown LA

Margaret Mead once said “never doubt that a group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Our old friends at the Midnight Mission on LA’s Skid Row have been hit harder than ever with the economic downturn, a combination of dwindling donors and record numbers showing up looking for hot food and place to sleep. They reached out to us for help in a time of crisis and we responded with 100 team members willing to help. We greatly look forward to continuing to work with the Midnight Mission to help those who need it most.

Over the course of 2 months, 100 Rubicon Project team members will take turns heading to the Midnight Mission for lunch service. In those 2 months, we will serve approximately 2,500 homeless and needy folks who come to the Mission for a warm meal at lunch time.

The amazing people who work over at the Mission (many of whom are graduates from the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program they promote) inspire us every time we go there. They make work fun, and remind us how important it is for organizations and companies to give back to the community in which they exist. Join us!

Some Facebook quotes from our team members:

Kate Hennig: Community Service day at the Rubicon Project: serving lunch at the Midnight Mission

Brad Rodriguez: Just finished volunteering at the midnight mission with my awesome coworkers from @rubiconproject

Courtney Chapman: dishing up some lunch at Midnight Mission in Downtown LA


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End of Year Wrap-Up in Words, Pictures and Video

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

How do you summarize an entire year at the Rubicon Project? It’s a combination of new technologies, new customers, new partners, new team members, new programs, new initiatives, and a lot of great inspiration and creativity. 2009 proved to be a phenomenal year for our company, we practically doubled the size of our team, added 3 new offices, and continued to focus on developing a strong and innovative company culture. It has always been our goal to create an “experience” not a “job,” and 2009 proved to be the year of excitement and focus.  Some areas of change and impact that we are proud of include:

Community Impact:
Community outreach and service is something that is bred into the DNA of our company and all of the team members we hire. We recognize how fortunate we are, and are committed to giving back to our local community. In 2009, we expanded from local community impact to global community impact. After opening offices in New York, London, and Sydney, we have been able to effect change not only in Los Angeles but internationally as well. Some groups we have volunteered or supported in the last year include: the Midnight Mission (LA), LA’s Best After School Program (LA),  Heal the Bay (LA), Tree People (LA), Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen (NYC), Morgan Stanely Children’s Hospital (NYC), City Meals on Wheels (NYC), Ted Knoff Foundation (SYDNEY), Community Chest (HONG KONG), Toys for Tots (US), NY Cares Coat Drive (NYC), Coach ART (LA),  and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (US).

Education:
We firmly believe in empowering our team members to take on as much industry knowledge and career skills as possible. The continuation of our Rubicon University program, which takes internal team members who are experts in certain fields and puts them in front of our team-at-large to be a “professor” of sorts, continued to be a big success. This year, the company also invested in a “Rubicon Library”, which houses books (team members make suggestions!) focused on improving management skills, how to inspire others, how to effect change, or how to reach your full potential.

Sports:
In addition, we also saw the creation of Rubicon Project sports teams, which provided some tough competition and a lot of fun memories. Active in the areas of softball, basketball, kickball, tennis, and soccer, the Rubicon Project is proud that our team members take any opportunity to be athletic, have fun, and forge friendships that aren’t just about  “business”.  None of our teams took home a league championship but that is definitely part of our goals for 2010!

Team Development and Bonding:
As a company, we devote resources to providing each manager with a budget for creating and planning team bonding events. It is important to us that our team members feel appreciated and connected to one another, and these events tend to have 100% participation. Whether it’s taking the team out for bowling, a nice dinner, or on a sailing adventure, our team knows what it is like to connect with other team members outside of “work.”

Cheers to 2009, and especially to our wonderful team members, who are the heart and soul of this organization. After looking back at the past year, I think we are all excited for what we will accomplish in 2010!


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Q4 Community Service: Tree People

Thursday, December 10th, 2009
the Rubicon Project team hard at work

the Rubicon Project team hard at work

On Friday, December 4th our entire LA Headquarters headed to South LA in partnership with the nonprofit organization TreePeople. Our mission: plant 30 trees in the Mt. Carmel Community Park as part of our Q4 community service event. Inspired by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s pledge to plant 1 million trees in LA, we wanted to do whatever we could to participate. Over 100 Rubicon team members broke into teams of 5 and went to work digging holes (3 feet deep!), planting the trees, making sure they had a proper environment to flourish, and even naming them. Ultimately, it was one of the best events we have ever had because of the tremendous team bonding that took place and the impact we had on the park in the community. We highly recommend TreePeople for any corporate or community service event. They truly are changing the landscape of Los Angeles, something to be very proud of! If you are interested, email Ryan Allen at rallen@treepeople.org.

From Leon Boroditsky (our tree planting supervisor from the LA Recreation and Parks Department ): “The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” -Nelson Henderson.

From Ryan Allen (our TreePeople leader): “It was a great day working with the volunteers of the Rubicon Project. They worked extremely hard at Mt. Carmel, a South LA city park that really needed the trees. I’m looking forward to the next service event TreePeople and the Rubicon Project can partner together on in working to help green our community of Los Angeles.”


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NYC: Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

nyccommservice31On Thursday, August 27th, the Rubicon Project’s New York team headed to the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in the Bronx for an afternoon of Rubicon Project sponsored arts and crafts with the children who are currently in the hospital for treatment. Our entire team and the children at the hospital had a phenomenal afternoon full of ice cream, creativity, smiles, and memories. We all learned how to make a mean tissue paper flower and Len perfected his ice cream serving skills. The kids were great: their positive outlook on life and endless energy prove to be a true inspiration to all of us. Also, we got to visit the rooms of children who were too sick to come downstairs for the event so they got to participate too! It was truly a memorable event for all. We would like to thank the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital for helping us plan such a great event!

Quotes from our NYC team about the event:

“Community service helps bring together the Rubicon team to do something outside the office that gives back to our community. It puts a smile on our faces to know that each quarter we have an opportunity to help!” - Ryan Dranginis, Ad Networks

“the Rubicon Project community service day is definitely one of my favorite things about Rubicon. Helping those in need gives you such a great perspective on life and what’s really important. I am so proud to be part of a company that gives back to the community. At the same time, it’s a great way to refresh your mind at work because it pushes me to work relentlessly for a company that gives me opportunities to participate in these kinds of activities.” -Jesse Rogowsky, Publishers

“Hanging out with the kids from the hospital was wonderful.  The kids were surprisingly happy and energetic.  They painted a lot smiley faces, words like ‘live, laugh & love’ or ‘be happy’.  It’s amazing to see how happy and hopeful they are considering the situation they are in – very heartwarming.” -Casey Steele, Publishers

“Working with sick children helps me stay humble…. making them smile keeps me grateful!” -Len DiCosola, Publishers

“Spending time with the kids at the hospital really gives you perspective into what’s truly important.  The kids had a great time and I know we all had a great time as well. It was a win-win situation. The flowers and painting were a hit! Also, Lenny’s professional ice cream serving skills really shined!” -Mike Baumwoll, Publishers


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Healing the Bay

Friday, August 14th, 2009
the Rubicon Project At Dockweiler State Beach

the Rubicon Project At Dockweiler State Beach

On Friday, August 14th the LA Rubicon Project team headed down to Dockweiler State Beach for a day of volunteering with Heal the Bay. As members of the Los Angeles community, we feel particularly passionate about the cleanliness and health of our beaches. So, we grabbed our team and went after doing anything we could to help.

The sun was shining, the gulls were curious as to what we were doing, and we spent the morning breaking up into teams and collecting (and documenting) trash that had either been left on the beach or washed onto the sand through storm drains. After a sweaty two hours, we found everything from styrofoam to thousands of cigarette butts. In the end, we were very proud of the massive amount of trash we got off of the sand. Surprisingly, there were no sunburns. Nice work team!

Heal the Bay is a non-profit organization dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds safe, healthy, and clean. If you want to volunteer with Heal the Bay, go to www.healthebay.org!


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Midnight Mission: Thank you!

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Every quarter, the Rubicon Project picks a local organization to partner with for our company wide community service project and event. This quarter, we were fortunate to work with the wonderful men and women at the Midnight Mission- a group of folks who inspire us daily by giving their heart and soul to those who need it most.

The Midnight Mission is located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles and first opened it’s doors as a refuge to the homeless men of Skid Row. For almost a century, the organization has been dedicated to providing outstanding services to homeless men, women, and families who need shelter, food, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, counseling, education, training and job placement.

Our community service event this quarter sent 3 different groups from the Rubicon Project to the Midnight Mission to serve food (and most importantly, big smiles) to folks who call Skid Row “home”. It was an educational, humbling, and very worthwhile experience that none of us will forget.

Quote from David Johnson, a Rubicon Project software engineer:

“I want to thank the Rubicon Project for coordinating this event with the Midnight Mission. It was an enlightening, humbling, and overall very positive experience of which I am glad to have taken part. I thank you for getting the Rubicon Project community involved with such inspiring organizations”.

If you or anyone you know would like to volunteer or donate time to the Midnight Mission, please contact Mai Lee at mlee@midnightmission.org.

the Rubicon Project and the Midnight Mission: What a team!

the Rubicon Project and the Midnight Mission: What a team!




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Building Our Community Service Guide

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

Giving back to the community is an important tenet here at the Rubicon Project. We’ve worked with some amazing organizations and we want to share the experience with you. Looking for a way for your small company to get involved around Los Angeles or New York? Check out the list below for some recommendations.
community-service-locations



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