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Cadence recently completed our fourth annual Season of Giving company-wide volunteer campaign. As one of the managers of our Cadence Cares community programs, I had the opportunity to work with a network of over 40 Cadence volunteer leads across 32 different offices to provide employees an opportunity to give back to their communities at the end of the year.

I was thrilled to see us reach our highest participation numbers in four years! Over 1,800 employees came together to make a BIG impact in the communities where they work and live. Each site had the freedom to choose the cause most important to their local communities to support. To see the creative ways our employees gave back was inspiring.

Here are a few highlights from our campaign, shared by some of our Cadence volunteer leads.

Shenzhen, China

Reina, Sr HR Representative: In December of 2019, 30 Cadence employees and their family members volunteered at the Shenzhen Xin Yi Tong Disability Care and Development Center. We had help from a local Eye Hospital and over 200 volunteers to hold a special event, giving visually impaired kids a chance to stand on stage and perform and to let them know they can achieve their dreams even if they are visually impaired. This is the second year we are helping to organize this talent show. The parents and hospital workers told us they wanted to help volunteer and give these kids a better stage to show themselves, so they can bring more awareness to these special children.

We have helped 30 visually impaired families to successfully hold the Talent Show. All the volunteers were deeply touched that even those kids are visually impaired, they still love and enjoy their beautiful life and are willing to show their talent. We also donated 150 AI Smart speakers so the kids can learn music and enjoy life!

Haifa, Israel
Inas, Sr Administrator: During the Hanukah and Christmas holidays, 20 of us Cadence employees volunteered at the Naiot Kipat Hazahav Nursing Home. This is a nursing home in Haifa that cares for the elderly with mental health problems. Many of the elderly people are neglected in nursing homes so we thought it was a great opportunity to show them we care and to put smiles on their faces. Employees at the nursing home organized some easy games for the elderly. They were split into two teams and some of us were judges, some were cheerleaders, and some helped the elderly complete the games.

At the nursing home, it was amazing to be there with the elderly people as more than 95% of them were in a wheelchair and needed someone to talk to them or just push them around and smile at them. We brought a lot of positive energy. Eran from our office played the piano and created a warm atmosphere in a tough place especially during the holidays where people spend a lot of time with their families and many of the elderly people are alone with no families to visit them. In addition to the activities, we donated eight iPads and headphones to the nursing home so the elderly there can enjoy music and listen to songs that remind them of home.

Pune, India

Dipin and Pinak, Design Engineers: Last year, Pune experienced the heaviest rainfall in years. Due to the water level in local rivers rising, it flooded the suburbs of Pune. This caused significant losses to property and livestock, and displaced people in various villages, rendering them homeless. We surveyed two villages that were most affected, Amnapur and Burli, and talked to the families about the problems they were facing due to the floods and what they needed to cope. With the help of the Rotary Club of Gandhi Bhawan, we targeted over 100 families from the Amnapur village. A group of 69 Cadence employees came together with a plan divided into two phases. In the first phase, we assembled sleeping kits, stationery kits, hygiene kits, and water purifier kits at the Cadence Office in Pune. In the second phase, some of the volunteers went to the Amnapur village and distributed the kits to families that were impacted by the flood. The water purifiers and the hygiene kits will help these families get clean drinking water and prevent them from getting diseases. Stationery kits were for families with children going to school. Sleeping kits were given to families who lost their household belongings and/or had their homes damaged.

In the Burli Village, we built a commercial water purifier plant that will serve over 1,000 families. The throughput of the plant is 4000 liters every two hours, which provides the whole village with clean drinking water. We used the $4,800 USD from Cadence to purchase buy mattresses, blankets, pillows, bedsheets, water purifiers, and a commercial water plant. Both the village heads were extremely thankful to us and Cadence for supporting them.

Sandy, Utah

Susan, Sr Administrator: We had an AWESOME Season of Giving! Over 100 employees and family members had such a good time working together building beds and working with Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), a nonprofit that provides bunkbeds to children who never had a bed of their own. A local Lowe’s Home Improvement store was so great. On top of Cadence’s donation of $15,000, they also donated another $2,500 as well as provided the materials at cost, a huge savings! They made it possible for us to purchase more materials with the money we had. We cut wood, sanded, drilled holes, and stained wood to construct 20 bunkbeds.

Jay and Scott from SHP were overwhelmed by our donation and the number of volunteers we had both on the day of the build as well as the number of quilters we had making blankets to donate. In all, we had 90 volunteers building bunkbeds and over 50 volunteers sewing and binding quilts. Special thanks to Laura Bird, Sr Accounting Assistant, for her efforts in coordinating with Quilts, Etc. to get the blankets completed. We made 40 beds (20 bunks), 90 blankets, 93 sheet sets, 48 pillowcases (hand-made), and 7 pillows. This is such a significant impact for the children in our communities.

San Jose, California

Tram, Associate HR Project Manager: In San Jose, we had over 200 San Jose employees volunteer at seven different Bay Area charities from November to December. One of the nonprofits we volunteered at was CityTeam San Jose Community Services, which helps people in need by providing them with resources to overcome the hardships they are facing and to break out of the cycle of poverty. One gloomy morning, 38 of us shared rides to the facility where we helped pack food, sort donations such as clothes and shoes, work in the storefront helping customers, and prepare meals for homeless guests that come to their dining hall. CityTeam serves 600 meals a day and relies on volunteers to help make this happen! We met one of the coordinators at CityTeam who shared her story with us from addiction to incarceration to homelessness to rebuilding her life at the House of Grace, one of CityTeam’s many programs. We saw first-hand how programs and resources at CityTeam help empower and transform people’s lives. It was also wonderful to hear that they get groceries donated from Second Harvest Food Bank, where 19 of our employees had volunteered at earlier that month!

Season of Giving is part of Cadence’s larger commitment to giving back and is a great opportunity for employees to get involved in their community. I am proud to see the impact our employees are making around the globe. Together, we are making a difference as One Cadence—One Team!

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