Cisco and Partners – A random act of kindness makes a big impact

February 17th was Random Acts of Kindness Day #RAK, and it made me think about all of the little things that we try to do at Cisco to engage in our communities and “be the light”.  Giving back and making a tangible commitment to our communities is a part of our culture here at Cisco – and the company backs it up in very real ways.

For example, every Cisco employee globally gets 40 hours every year for something we call Time2Give.  Those Time2Give hours are paid time away from work so that each individual in the company can go out and spend that time in service to their communities – from building homes with Habitat for Humanity, to running local STEM initiatives, to volunteering at charitable organizations in the towns and countries in which we live.

At Cisco, we also have a tremendous extended family of technology integrator Partners.  In business, Cisco and these Partners work together to deliver technologies that help our customers transform their businesses, that help governments serve and protect their citizens more effectively, and that change the way we educate ourselves and our children.

These partnerships run deep and go beyond just the delivery of technology solutions.  We, and many of our Partners, firmly believe that not only can technological innovations be a true bridge between hope and possible, but so can our combined efforts outside of work when channeled properly.

To say our Cisco Partners delivered would be an understatement.  Over 3,000 pounds of food were collected and delivered to Operation Food Search, a local food bank in the St. Louis metropolitan area. In fact, so much food was donated, that a trailer had to be rented to collect & deliver it all!  Through the combined individual acts of kindness, over 800 people’s lives were positively impacted this winter.  You can see the entire story here.

We can never know the true extent of our impact on lives when we act with kindness, whether in our personal or professional endeavors.  That said, Cisco and our Partners truly feel that we are a bridge to possible when we come together with a shared purpose… and when we do see results together it genuinely inspires.