Tech Citizenship

Philanthropy at the Burlington division of Sun Microsystems Inc. is about passion. While the company focuses its charitable activities on technology and education, it gives its employees plenty of room to develop their volunteer work around what means most to them.

The social commitment comes from the roots of the company — its employees — so the activities go all the way from volunteering time at animal shelters to painting schools and mentoring children to helping with school fund-raising drives.

“Local-level employees have a lot to say — it is up to the employees to find opportunities,” said Sandy Belknap, senior communications manager.

Since 1995, Sun’s Burlington employees have donated more than 221,000 volunteer hours, valued at over $3.38 million. The company backs the initiatives by matching donations, or giving its employees time off to volunteer.

“Sun wants to give back to the community where its employees live, not only where the headquarters are,” said Belknap.

The California-based company created the Sun Foundation in 1990 as a means to unify all of its philanthropic efforts and to create an official process for international charitable contributions. Since its inception, the foundation has donated over $43 million in grants, technology, services and employee matching grants.

Last year the foundation donated $2.8 million. Employees can search for volunteer organizations through Sun’s website, which is the home of a program called Angel Points that tracks the progress of the company’s global volunteer projects.

Being an international company, with offices in more than 100 countries, philanthropy is a value shared across borders. As an example, in Italy, 3,527 schools use Sun’s StarOffice thanks to an agreement with the Italian Ministry of Education to provide the software at no charge to Italian schools.

In China, Sun has helped build and maintain six schools, and construction plans are now under way to build a seventh.

For the 12th consecutive year, Sun organized its Worldwide Volunteer Week earlier this year to support employees’ commitments to both personal and corporate volunteerism in the communities where they live.

New England employees volunteered at the Paul Center for Learning and Recreation Inc. in Chelmsford, repairing fences; they painted the Nashua Children’s Home in New Hampshire; other employees assisted in cleaning and organizing food donations at the Nashua Soup Kitchen.

But volunteerism is something that happens at Sun more than just during that one week — employees find ways to give back throughout the year.

“Letting me volunteer is a benefit, and it is one of the reasons why I like to work here,” said Belknap.

Citizenship Facts

Sun Microsystems Inc.

Total cash contributions in New England in 2005: $2.8M

Number of volunteer hours in New England in 2005: N/A

In-kind contributions of equipment and services in New England: N/A

Principal recipients of charitable activities in 2005: Community Teamwork Inc., Lowell; People Helping People, Burlington; Northborough Food Pantry, Northborough; Nashua Soup Kitchen, Nashua, N.H.

Interesting philanthropic activities: Sun Microsystems and its foundation’s Share the Opportunity initiative is a program aimed at reaching communities in need through monetary grants, equipment donation, and volunteerism.

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