IZEA truly holds a special place in my heart and isn’t just another place to put in a 9-to-5 day and call it quits, as an IZEAn our purpose and mission goes well beyond basic office hours. One of the things that makes IZEA more than another day job is our culture committee, IZEACares. Our IZEACares community efforts forge bonds with nonprofit groups in and around the city that fostered our incredible growth and success over the last decade. We like to think outside the box when getting our team to participate and contribute in these efforts.
When I joined the IZEA team, initially as an intern, one of the first things that I wanted to start diving into was our involvement in the Orlando community and revitalizing our IZEACares program that was in place. In doing so we held a wildly successful Movie Night DVD drive on behalf of BASE Camp Children’s Cancer Foundation. Our team was able to deliver hot meals and a one-of-a-kind movie night experience to hospital bound families and their children who are going through strenuous therapy for their various forms and stages of cancer. We also began to donate hundreds of packaged food items to our partners at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Florida in order to help in their efforts to enrich the lives of underprivileged men and women in the area.
Recently, we started a relationship with UCP of Central Florida. We learned they were in need of additional funding and we were up the challenge. UCP’s mission really hits home for many of our IZEAns who have children who are in need of the wonderful service that UCP provides or who may have experienced their own hardships growing up. Our team took action immediately setting up a fundraiser in a way that would engage our entire company, something that we dubbed “Coin Wars.” Six internal teams had a bucket for collecting coins or dollar bills. The value of the coins collected by a team counted positively toward that group’s point total, while the value of dollar bills are subtracted. The competition was fierce and after intense jostling for the top position, as a company we raised over $150 for UCP. This event really speaks to the teamwork and competitive nature of IZEA as a whole and was the perfect way to get everyone participating.
Needless to say our passion and drive at IZEA to make a greater impact in our community continues with quarterly efforts with IZEACares. Our next project will be to provide school supplies to the children who need them most with a School Supply Drive for UCP. Striving to make an impact beyond our office walls is one of many factors of The IZEA Way.