This is a guest blog post written by Avanade alum, Mark Myers.

You will never regret the time spent doing something for others

When it came down to deciding where I wanted to take my career, I chose the people at Avanade.  Being a part of an organization unlike most was far more important than anything else.

The urge to do more than just “doing my day job” grew.  Chris Miller, Avanade CIO, started a volunteer initiative for the Northwest Region and I heard my calling.

The Beginning

We started the Community Give Back group in 2014.  The goal of the group was to gather the resources of Avanade to impact the local community in a positive manner in order to increase our feel of community and increase brand awareness.

Our phenomenal team rallied in record time to mobilize support for the Oso slide through Red Cross.  We set up donation boxes in the office, sent out donation communications and spread the word to “give back” which raised over $6,000.

Next we focused on the United Way Day of Caring event in 2014 and supported our fellow NW Volunteer/Community Outreach teams in water station management at the 2014 Seattle Rock ‘n Roll Marathon.  The momentum grew and the hunger for more was stirring in all of us.

Involvement with NW Harvest

In 2015, we partnered with NW Harvest, to give back to a local non-profit.

We set a date, 7/11/15, and made it happen. We came out in full force and impressed all those that were there (Boeing, AT&T, etc). We were the brightest and largest, by far, group in our orange Avanade t-shirts. We were assigned to the task of sorting, weighing and packing cucumbers in addition to building hundreds of cardboard boxes.

The Results Realized

35 people moved, sorted, packed, weighed and shipped 21,980 pounds of cucumbers which resulted in 16,907 meals (35 + 21,980 = 16,907).

There were a few things that really stood out from this event:

• 100% of those that committed (35) to being there showed up! This is no minor accomplishment. Very well done!
• We had representation from nearly every organization within Avanade (Finance, ITS, Consulting, HR, etc)
• The shirts looked great! We took over the lobby at NW Harvest in color and in numbers.
• Teamwork lead to results. Everyone made huge contributions in whatever they were asked to do.
• We all worked exceptionally hard; sweating included.
• Most importantly, we had fun.  There were so many smiles and laughs!

Thank you for all involved! It was truly an event where we showed what “Being Orange” means and diligently executed on “Results Realized”.

Pictured above with fellow committee members Ross Cayetano, Stephanie Fromwiller & Ashok Srinivasan

Not pictured: Chris Miller, Liam Foley, Samiha Korshed and Darcey McAllister