Shakin' Up the Holiday Gathering

via artbackwash.blogspot.com

Holiday parties! An evergreen part of any company's schedule, aren't they?
We look at our holiday events--any holiday event, really--as a way to celebrate our employees and show them we value them.
We've seen folks give out awards, and that's always nice. We've also seen the year-end slide-show of all the employees having a great time at other company outings, or, um, at their desks (those photos never actually get cheered at).
But today is International Volunteer Day, and we want to share with you something we did at one of our parties that went over like gangbusters: we allowed folks to volunteer.
We teamed up with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to host a station where folks could make get-well cards for children staying in the hospital. And we also set up a place for folks to volunteer for Philly Ride Share, where cancer patients can get lifts to treatments.
Almost everyone walked out of that party infused not only with the post-party glow that we like all our clients to have, but also with the knowledge that they did something good.
We know some other folks who have blocked off the whole day for their employees to volunteer at a soup kitchen and then ended the day with a holiday party. And we know still others who have worked good works into their holiday parties in other ways.
It's the season of good cheer. We can't think of a better way to spread it around a little than some volunteer elbow grease.
How do you celebrate the holidays at your company?