The team in New York found our first East Coast volunteer spot in Brooklyn. Project Samaritan, which addresses the needs of people with HIV/AIDS and substance abuse issues, needed a team of five to help jump start its new project. They provide health care services and rehabilitation programs for the community but recently, the clinic has been getting hit pretty hard by the economy, as less donations roll in and more expensive bills roll out. The solution: the Brooklyn branch is opening a thrift store this summer, to offset the costs of Project Samaritan’s services.

After a 45-minute train ride from our office to the site, we met up with Brandon Snead, who recently created the volunteer program for Project Samaritan. It turns out, we were one of his first batches of workers! We helped him with creating items for the store, organizing the space and putting together packets and publicity to seek donations and raise awareness of the group. We were doing what we could for a cause that serves almost 2,000 people in the area who rely on Project Samaritan. Brandon was just grateful to have us there helping him move his vision forward.

We wish the best of luck to him as he builds this program and we are very humbled and honored to be a part of it. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Brandon Snead at bsnead@projectsamaritan.org.

It is my favorite time of the quarter again! One of our company values is community. We believe strongly in taking the time, every quarter, to give back to a local program that is making a difference. This time around, we took all 65 of our team members from the LA office and headed out to Hope Gardens, a Los Angeles based shelter for abandoned women and children, part of the Union Rescue Mission. The Rubicon army descended on the transitional housing center, ready to be put to work! We spent the morning and early afternoon gardening, doing site maintenance and clean up, organizing donations, decorating for the holidays, and repainting. At the end of the day, we were exhausted but beaming from the good vibes we got for donating our time to such a worthwhile cause. Not only is the community service aspect of the event important, it allows us all to get out of the office (in this case, a half day) to bond around a cause that is greater than ourselves. The drive and willpower that our team members put into these events never ceases to amaze me, and the memory stays with us permanently, as do the people in need that we encounter. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes in relation to what we did yesterday, “it is easy to make a buck. It is hard to make a difference!”

At the Rubicon Project we think that giving back to the community is an important part of our growing culture. Every quarter the entire company takes a work day and volunteers with a local organization. In this round of community service we worked with the fine folks at the Dream Center in Los Angeles. The Dream Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping inner-cities by providing food, clothing, shelter, life rehabilitation, education and job training, and donates food to those in need.

The team helped sort and package up food the Dream Center received form countless food donation centers and then went on ride a-longs to help hand out. It was a very humbling and rewarding experience and all of us walked away feeling that much more appreciative for what we have. Check out the pictures below for a snapshot of our day.