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Friday, December 12, 2008
Tech Citizenship
Local techs lending a hand
By Mass High Tech staff
MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community
Braintree high school students get STEM with their breakfasts
Archbishop Williams High School hosted its first science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career breakfast for more than 100 students at its Braintree-based campus. The students, mostly seniors, were selected to attend the breakfast because they took math and science courses that exceeded the school’s requirements.
Forty area professionals in STEM-related areas met with the students to share the challenges, rewards and details of their professions. Many of the professionals that attended the breakfast were graduates of the college preparatory high school. “Our students could not say enough good things about the presenters, and the presenters could not say enough good things about our students,” said Carmen Mariano, president of Archbishop Williams. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”
The STEM career breakfast was sponsored by the math and science departments at the high school and was coordinated by the chairperson of each department. According to reports, the breakfast was held in response to the projection of a large number of opportunities in these fields in 10 years and the projected shortage of trained professionals.
Quincy public school robotics team gets $1,200 donation
Quincy 2000 Collaborative and The Quincy Technology Council have donated $1,200 to the Quincy Public Schools’ Robotics Team Helping Youth Pursue Engineering and Robotics (HYPER).
The funds were donated from the proceeds of an event on wind turbines held in June, that featured Quincy mayor Thomas P. Koch and speakers from Mass Energy, IBEW, Jay Cashman Inc. & Quincy Public Schools. The donation will be used to help Team HYPER attend next year’s FIRST Robotics Competition regional contest. The upcoming competition will mark HYPER’s 12th year as a competitor.
Alkermes forgoes holiday fete for food bank donations
Alkermes Inc. donated 2,500 pounds of turkey and roast beef to the Greater Boston Food Bank this year instead of having a holiday party. The Cambridge-based company used the funds normally set aside for the party to give back to the community instead.
The food bank, founded in 1981, is part of The Nation’s Food Bank Network, a hunger-relief organization. The Greater Boston Food Bank delivers food to nine counties across Massachusetts. The biotech company’s donation will allow for more than 1,900 meals to be served across the state, said Paul Colligan, director of programs at The Greater Boston Food Bank.
Maine marketing firm gives back through Google Grants, AdWords
Google Inc. is offering a donation program called Google Grants, which offers free AdWords advertising to select charitable organizations, and a Portland, Maine-based marketing firm is one of the first to use the program to help local charities.
Google supports organizations that share its philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy and the arts, the company said. Eligible organizations that have a 501(c)(3) status are able to fill out an application requesting a grant. If the grant is awarded, the company receives $10,000 per month in Google ads.
Portland-based HMG Search Marketing Inc. is now managing the Google AdWords campaigns for two California-based nonprofit organizations for free as its way of giving back to the community. The organizations HMG is working with include Stanford Business School’s Social Innovative Conversations, which is a listener-supported nonprofit podcast network, and Mayan Families, a nonprofit group providing health care and educational services to the Mayan people in the Guatemala highlands.
Courion raises most-ever funds for Neely and Flutie foundations
Courion Corp.’s CourionCares program has raised more than $100,000 in support of local charities over the past eight years. CourionCares is the company’s corporate citizenship program.
The company’s most recent annual charity auction event set a record for the program by generating more than $16,500 to benefit the Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care and the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, according to the company. Employees raised the funds by participating in raffles, live auctions and silent auctions for prizes donated by local businesses. Items ranged from gift cards and sports tickets to autographed memorabilia and weekend getaways.
CourionCares is a range of programs designed to raise both cash and non-cash proceeds for organizations in need. The company’s programs include SnackCourier, which donates proceeds from refreshments purchased by Courion employees to charity year round; CoatCourier, a coat donation drive; Holiday Gift Drive and the School Supply Drive.
Framingham-based Courion is an identity management software company.
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