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Feel Good Friday - Giving Back 💝

Amanda Barber

It's Friday in Sydney, so I'm excited to wish everyone a Happy Feel Good Friday!

Feel Good Friday (1).png

This week happens to be National Volunteer Week here in the United States. I thought it would be a great way to highlight (and hype up!) how our community members give back.

I also wanted to highlight the work that the Atlassian Foundation does worldwide - as they say, "Creating a better world is impossible alone." Check out their focus areas here: https://www.atlassianfoundation.org/how-we-work/education

I love the Atlassian blog about the science behind giving back and how volunteering can make us happier at work, too!

Some ideas to share in the discussion below:

Upcoming social impact Atlassian Community Events in your area
Organizations you like to give back to (financially or with your time)
How does volunteering benefit you?

Comments

Amanda Barber

I volunteered this week for my daughter's theater program -- painting and assembling set pieces! I also worked on setting up a fundraiser for The Longest Day event in June for my local Alzheimer's Association, and spent some time in the Atlassian Community/Forums helping others! 🫶

I've also donated my hair and blood in the past few months! 💝

John Funk

I view giving back to the Atlassian Community here by answering questions and helping others by volunteering time to do that. Many many hours have been expended by so many people!!

Amanda Barber

Absolutely - the time you've given to the community is invaluable, @John Funk 🎉

Jimmy Seddon

@Amanda Barber great topic!

I think a number of people know that I give both my time and money into Extra Life to support my local Children's Hospital.

While I didn't do anything this past week I'm constantly doing things either as a part of Extra Life or directly for the Children's Health Foundation.

In mid-March I was running a board games table at the hospital while the local radio stations were doing a 12 hour fundraiser interviewing patients and their families.

In the fall we will he running a 24 hour video game event, with various activities and prizes.

Now, how do I benefit?

1) I get to feel good at the end of the day knowing that every dollar I help raise or every person I can get involved means another dollar going towards providing care to children in life threatening situations.

2) I get to meet some really amazing humans. Those that are local to me or the online connections I have made in the larger Extra Life Community with others raising awareness and funds for their own local hospitals. We're all working toward the same goal.

I could probably list a dozen more but I think the above two are the most impactful.

Amanda Barber

So awesome, @Jimmy Seddon - while I knew you fundraised for them, I did not know all those extras. Thank you for all you do!!

Bogna Krystian_Deviniti_

@Amanda Barber What a great subject! I'm a volunteer at an intergenerational café. I teach English to seniors and we also play board games together. Volunteering gives me a lot of satisfaction and has allowed me to learn a lot about myself as well as about the history of the city I live in, because most of the seniors are people who have lived here since birth.

Stephen.Lugton

Similarly to @John Funk (and all the other Community Leaders Champions) I try and give back to the community here.

Outside of that my volunteering is more on the fundraising side with things like:

March for Men for Prostate Cancer UK (https://marchformen.prostatecanceruk.org/), if you're in/near London the next one is

Date: Saturday 14 June 2025
Location: Battersea Park, London
Walk distances: 2.5km, 5km or 10km (you choose!)
Walk start time: 11:30am
Registration fee: £10 per adult

One Million Step Challenge for Diabetes UK (https://step.diabetes.org.uk/), the next one is

Date: Tuesday 1 July 2025 to Tuesday 30 September 2025
Location: Anywhere you can walk
Walk distances: However far one million steps takes you
there's a 500,000 step challenge if 1.000.000 steps is too much

I also do other events throughout the year

Amanda Barber

Wow, what a wonderful way to give back. That sounds so fun for both the volunteer and participants.

Amanda Barber

Thank you for sharing these upcoming events, @Stephen_Lugton! I'm checking out that One Million Steps Challenge for sure!

Thanks for all you do to raise awareness and funds for these important causes!

Barbara Szczesniak

Wonderful topic, which made me think that I don't do as much as I used to. I live with my parents, who are 81 and 83, so I spend a lot of time supporting them. I also support the public radio station where I live, and I still support the one where I used to live 🙂.

I also try to do my part here in the community. I think I'm still learning as much as I'm helping, but hopefully I occasionally make someone else's day easier.

Amanda Barber

Being a caretaker is no small feat! You give back in many wonderful ways, @Barbara Szczesniak!

Matt Doar _Adaptavist_

Some great ideas here for volunteering, thanks! I volunteer in a few different area at my local library, including IT help for seniors, adult literacy and reading to children. Sometimes it's a challenge, but generally very satisfying. In fact, I even made it onto
https://www.sjpl.org/blogs/post/meet-our-2025-volunteers-of-the-year

Amanda Barber

This is so cool, @Matt Doar _Adaptavist_! I'd love to get involved in something like this in the future.