The Cisco employees who participate in the Australia/New Zealand Civic Council have enlisted Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) University to help apply business rigor to their social investments. This year the council established a Community Voice Mail pilot, in which phones are provided to homeless people, for a Melbourne-based nonprofit that publishes a magazine sold by the homeless to generate income. The Melbourne University SIFE chapter is evaluating the CVM pilot to see if it can be deployed to other organizations that serve the homeless in Australia. The council also deployed a Cisco Unified Communications phone system at Cystic Fibrosis New South Wales. SIFE members will evaluate the effects of the new system on cystic fibrosis patients, who previously have had trouble communicating in person due to the threat of cross-contamination. The Netherlands Civic Council provided $100,000 worth of Cisco products and €1000 in funds to War Child, an organization that offers psychosocial assistance to children affected by war and armed conflict in 11 countries. In addition, employees affiliated with the council assisted at CliniClowns Theatre, a show for handicapped children, their families, and caregivers. One hundred Cisco employees from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands ran the Dam to Dam Marathon to raise money for World Cancer Research Funds. And employees helped prepare the Ronald McDonald Children's Valley facility at the Franciscusoord Rehabilitation Centre at Valkenburg aan de Geul for summer vacationers and their families. The Silicon Valley Civic Council logged more than 50,000 hours of volunteer service this year from the Cisco headquarters campus in San Jose, California. Besides creating a new Website to encourage philanthropy by employees, the council held a large-scale school transformation volunteer event at Costaño School in the city of East Palo Alto, where Cisco employee outreach and volunteerism began more than 20 years ago. Support for the council’s annual Back to School drive has resulted in over 1500 fully equipped backpacks being donated to local disadvantaged children returning to school. In addition, environment-oriented NGOs were invited to participate in Cisco’s first Earth Day Fair to raise awareness and connect employees with volunteer activities focused on environmental issues. |
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