How Wish Employees Across the Globe Partnered for #WishGives Season of Giving
Here at Wish, we all come from diverse backgrounds with a variety of different motivations, but we agree on one common goal — supporting one another to assist humankind.
This is why, for another year, we encouraged our employees to consider participating in our #WishGives Global Year End of Service. We empowered them to act on their purpose with teambuilding events, paid time off for volunteering, and donations to charities with whom they volunteered.
Following their volunteering activities, every single one of our Wishians had a story to share about doing something that fueled a passion, purpose for meaning, or experiences that allowed them to learn something new. Below are just a few examples of inspiring stories.
Operation Christmas Child is a program that delivers gift-filled shoe boxes to children worldwide. Each box is packed full of toys, school supplies, and any personal care items selected for a child. These boxes are then assembled and wrapped and delivered to a local church partner and presented to children around the holiday time period. This year, our goal was to reach 300 participants globally and we were able to meet that easily this year! For employees located near a physical Wish office, we hosted in-person wrapping events, and for remote employees, we held virtual events to connect with the wrapping fun!
Fun Fact: Our EMEA offices were the first to hit their goal this year! Congratulations!
The Giving Tree Program helps thousands of migrant students in Shanghai as well as supports schools in Yunnan. Gift bags were filled with supplies, essential personal items, and equipment for 9 schools between the two cities. This year, 33 Wishians got together with Todd Li, General Manager of China, to pack gift bags. Each of those who packed a bag will also receive a personalized gift from the student they impacted, which they will be able to proudly display at their desks for all to see.
This year, our Global Wish Refresh days pilot program was launched to encourage Wish employees to unwind and spend the day doing what they love most. Many of us spent time with friends and family, while others may have spent it giving back. For the last quarter, a handful of our San Francisco employees got together and wanted to use their Global Refresh Day to better their community. After sharing the idea on Slack hundreds of messages flooded in around the world on how to get involved, and the rest of history! it was decided the months of November and December would be coined Global Service Days. And, just like that, there was an official sign-up sheet where employees could sign up in their local communities.
Justin Wang was our very first Wish volunteer to sign up and participate in our Global Service Days. He spent two hours sorting food at Second Harvest’s Food Bank in San Jose. In his own words, “It’s good doing something for the community.”
It is essential that Wish employees have the freedom and responsibility to give back to local and global communities. This is why having service time throughout the year is critical. It can be hours spent packing food at a local food bank, a kind smile, or being a shoulder to lean on in a time of need.
During this holiday season, today, and every day we encourage you to join the millions of people globally doing good in their community. As, Billy Young, Wish’s Senior Software Engineer said, “It is a time to celebrate the little things in life and be thankful for the big ones.”
