Give & Take: How Prosek Gives Back During the Holidays
For many, this time of year is one for celebration – reflecting on accomplishments and toasting to the end of a great year at holiday parties with family and friends. But the holidays are also giving season, and it is important to remember that while we celebrate another successful year, there are many people marking the end of a challenging one.
This is my first holiday season as part of Prosek’s Give Back group, and I am proud to be part of an organization made up of thoughtful and generous individuals who take the time to give back in various ways during the holidays. Our community is a lot larger than it used to be – and as we have grown to new offices in new regions, so have our contributions to the local communities where we live and work.
Below are some of the ways we have been giving back this holiday season across our offices around the world.
Sterling House Community Center (CT)
For many families, a Thanksgiving dinner is a financial burden or outright impossible to afford each year. To assist those in need, our Connecticut office collected donations to support Thanksgiving Baskets for families through Sterling House Community Center, a non-profit that provides year-round food assistance programs. This year, the team sponsored 33 baskets, and over the years Prosek has donated nearly $12,000 to Sterling House to help feed over 1,900 people through their various programs.
Capital Area Food Bank (DC)
Our DC office held an office potluck before Thanksgiving and encouraged everyone to bring one dish for sharing, and one for donating. The team collected 50+ canned and non-perishable items for Capital Area Food Bank, an organization that provides more than 50 million meals to people in communities across DC, Maryland and Virginia.
Home for Little Wanderers (Boston)
While for many, the holidays are a reminder of giving and receiving gifts, this time of year can be especially difficult for families with children without the means to buy new gifts. Our Boston office hosted a toy drive for The Home for Little Wanderers, an organization that helps children who are abused, neglected or at-risk build stable lives and hopeful futures, to ensure that each child has a present to open this holiday season. The office was able to donate the gifts to The Home, as part of the organization’s largest donation drive of the year.
Winter Wishes (New York)
Our New York office once again participated in New York Care’s Winter Wishes Program, which provides holiday toys and gifts for children, teens and seniors across the city’s five boroughs. We were able to fulfill 50 gift requests, donating personally requested gifts to in-need individuals across the City.
Trussell Trust’s Westminster Food Bank (London)
To help make a positive contribution in its new office neighborhood, the London team organized a food drive to benefit the Trussell Trust’s Westminster Food Bank. This month and in the first week of January, the team will be gathering non-perishable food items and essential household hygiene products that are most requested by the organization. Food banks are often heavily depleted during the holiday season, and donations slow down after Christmas, so the hope is to help replenish some much-needed supplies as the food bank’s users begin the New Year.
Santa Shoebox (South Africa)
Our South Africa team worked with the Santa Shoebox Project this year to distribute personalized gifts of essential items for underprivileged children throughout South Africa and Namibia. A Santa Shoebox is a cheerfully decorated box that contains eight useful items of your choice, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, facecloth, school supplies, toys, sweets and an item of clothing for children who might otherwise not receive anything for Christmas. The team got matched with eight children in need, and had a social afternoon packing and decorating the boxes before sending them to the children. 