Amazing Stories | 1 Day. 250 Volunteers. 1,200 Hours.

2022-October-25

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1 Day. 250 Volunteers. 1,200 Hours.

BY SOTHAN THACH AND MONICA DOSTER

WITH TIMOTHY LEVAD AND KRYSTAL CHENG

3 MINUTE READ · 5 MINUTE LISTEN



On August 4, 2022, 250 members from Cisco Customer Success collectively volunteered more than 1,200 hours.

Dubbed #CiscoCSDay2Give, the first-annual event was led by Community Leader Timothy Levad.

The Customer Success team spent hours in food banks, blood banks, community gardens, wildlife sanctuaries, and many other charitable organizations with one goal: Make our world better.

There are literally hundreds of stories from all over the world. But in the meantime, here’s a sneak peek of a few:

Susan Pak stands in a kitchen smiling, holding a bag of trash and a grabber.
Susan Pak spent the morning cleaning up Ocean Grove beach.
Alexandre poses with a large group of children in front of a painted wall.
Alexandre Faroni donated clothes for children.
A group of women gathered around massive black rain collection towers.
Zohar Petel attended a project meeting for Current Rain Harvesting.
Peter squatting next to green vegetable plants inside a greenhouse.
Peter Mykulangara harvested produce.
A person holding a trash bag and grabber at a grassy park overlooking water.
Abbey Woodrow spent the day at the Toronto park cleanup.
Cheryl posing with a pink wreath made of ribbons to signify breast cancer awareness.
Cheryl Raugh volunteered at the Cancer Alliance of Help & Hope.
Four children holding watering cans watering plants in a small garden.
Cris Grannemann Guimarães gardened with children.
Katarzyna and two other women posing in front of tall piles of cardboard boxes.
Katarzyna Dębska-Kazirod spent time at Szafa Dobra (Wardrobe of Good).
A large group of people pose for a picture with a sign reading a precious child.
Shawn Grafitti filled backpacks for children in need.
A knitted teddy bear with a muti-colored sweater.
Nancy Stalcup knitted a “trauma teddy” for the Australian Red Cross.
A table full of handmade, handwritten thank you cards on display.
Sampath Bananda wrote thank you cards for first responders.
Ciara posed for a picture in a school kitchen making packed lunches.
Ciara Fayle volunteered at a Sydney school and donated blood.

Susan Pak, Success Programs Manager, United States
I spent the morning cleaning up Ocean Grove beach by Mary’s Place by the Sea, which is a respite home for women who have been diagnosed with cancer. My trash picker was perfect for picking up tiny pieces of plastics, bottle caps, and 88 cigarette butts. (Yes, I counted!)

Alexandre Faroni, Customer Experience Customer Success Executive, Brazil
I spent the afternoon at an institution that supports kids in need in São Paulo and collected and donated clothes for them.

Zohar Petel, Success Programs Manager, Israel
We had a project meeting for the planning monitoring system for Current Rain Harvesting.

Peter Mykulangara, Customer Experience Customer Success Specialist, United States
I volunteered at TheArc Farm here in Washington, D.C. I had fun harvesting, storing, and packing the food produce which is shipped to the local farmers' market and given to people in need. I also planted a few saplings.

Abbey Woodrow, Solutions Architect, Canada
I spent the day at the Toronto park cleanup. It felt great giving back!

Cheryl Raugh, Service Delivery Manager, United States
As a breast cancer survivor, I volunteered at the Cancer Alliance of Help & Hope, whose vision is to ensure a future free of burdens for cancer patients. I donated my wreath to them as breast cancer is in my rearview mirror.

Cris Grannemann Guimarães, Success Programs Manager, Brazil
"I spent the day planting the future at a primary school in São Paulo. We planted the seed of preservation in the minds of the students — why we must preserve and care for nature."

Katarzyna Dębska-Kazirod, Customer Project Manager, Poland
I volunteered in Szafa Dobra ("Wardrobe of Good"), a large shop offering free clothes for Ukrainian refugees in Krakow, Poland.

Shawn Grafitti, Customer Experience Customer Success Executive, United States
I had a great day filling backpacks for back to school at A Precious Child, an organization that provides resources to Colorado children in need. I just loved seeing everybody giving their time and resources around the globe.

Nancy Stalcup, Customer Success Specialist Leader, Australia
I spent my Day2Give knitting a “trauma teddy” for the Australian Red Cross. It will provide comfort to children that are fleeing summer bushfires, company in an ambulance or hospital stay, or a warm welcome to refugee children.

Sampath Bananda, Business Development Manager, India
Fellow volunteers and I created physical and digital thank you cards, which were later delivered to the Indian Armed Forces, police, and COVID warriors (teachers, doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, delivery boys, and media) across Bangalore. We also distributed notebooks to school children.

Ciara Fayle, Success Program Manager, Australia
I volunteered at a local school and donated much-needed blood. Two very simple tasks which had a significant impact on the community and me!

The countdown is on for the second #CiscoCSDay2Give on October 26, 2022.

But you don’t have to be part of Customer Success to get involved. Every year, all Cisco employees are given 10 Time2Give days to give back to their communities.

You can volunteer at hospitals, schools, gardens, and so much more. The possibilities are endless when it comes to lending a hand.

If you have a story of giving back, feel free to share it in the comments below, or submit your story for a chance to be featured on the CEC.

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