DEPT® Cares Day 2021
DEPT® Cares Day is, well, exactly what it sounds like! Depsters show that they care by donating some of their time to give back to their communities.
It’s an annual tradition that’s changed a lot over the years. Back in the day, DEPT® Cares Day was a weekend activity started and organised by Depsters. Now it’s been embraced by DEPT®, given its own budget and even allotted work hours for.
And another thing… It’s expanded with DEPT® from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, Hamburg, Zurich, Manchester, Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Mar del Plata, and other cities all over the world!
DEPT® Cares Day is bigger and better than ever before because, at its heart, its mission has remained the same: coming together to make a difference. And that’s an energy we could all use more of in these crazy times.
This year, the big day is Friday, 29 October 2021.
Set aside a few hours of your day, check the list below to see what your city has in store.
These cities are participating
- Argentina – Mar del Plata – Contact person: Mariano Urbina
- Croatia – Split – Contact person: Branka Loncaric
- Croatia – Zagreb – Contact person: Branka Loncaric
- Denmark – Copenhagen – Contact person: Rachael Neustadt, Laura Lauritzen and Celine Brøndmo
- Ireland – Dublin – Contact person: Niamh McConville
- Germany – Berlin – Contact person: Joanna Hengstebeck, Britta Clausen, Mike Kamysz & Mojan Salehipour
- Germany – Cologne – Contact person: Federico Andrea Ahmann, Judith Mayeres & Björn Riechelmann
- Germany – Hamburg – Contact person: Tammy Sahlmann and Maike Thiessen
- Germany – Dresden, Leipzig & Jena – Contact person: Vanessa Raffe and Julia Trzewick
- Netherlands – Amsterdam – Contact person: Leanne Huiberts & Maaike de Boer
- Netherlands – Rotterdam – Contact person: Stephanie Legué
- Netherlands – Veenendaal – Joins Amsterdam/Rotterdam – Contact person: Anja Mulder
- Republic of Macedonia – Skopje – Contact person: Katerina Maljceva & Sanja Angjeleska
- Spain – Zaragoza – Contact person: Ashley Evans
- Switzerland – Bern & Zürich – Contact person: Fabienne Schneuwly
- United Kingdom – London & Leeds – Contact person: Laura Henderson, Louise Murray & Ashley Evans
- United Kingdom – Manchester – Contact person: Ashley Evans
- United States – Boston & Newburyport – Contact person: Imogene Robinson, Kristin Cronin & Ayla Rosen
- United States – Denver – Contact person: Nicole Leicht
- United States – Los Angeles – Contact person: Jennifer Medbery
- United States – New York – Contact person: Sarah Dedewo, Claire Shalbrack & Michelle Hernandez
- United States – San Diego– Contact person: Tamara Upton & AhnaMia Maranon
Mar del Plata
We’ll be raising funds to change the lives of the students at the local school for the deaf, CEFA. CEFA’s a super important school and our donation will help them buy children’s hearing aids!
Bern
Depsters in Bern will be giving their time and energy to Emmental, a beautiful “life farm” shifting from using their animals for production to striving for an equal coexistence between humans and animals. We’ll be doing hands-on work around the farm to support them in their mission to use their farm for the wellness of both animals and people.
Zürich
Depsters in Zürich will be giving their time and energy to Emmental, a beautiful “life farm” shifting from using their animals for production to striving for an equal coexistence between humans and animals. We’ll be doing hands-on work around the farm to support them in their mission to use their farm for the wellness of both animals and people.
Berlin
Our Depsters will get creative and paint, make small crafts, and write letters & poems to brighten the day for residents of long-term care facilities! Small tokens of kindness like these make folks crack a smile and help them feel a little less lonely.
Cologne
We’ll be jumping in on a project with Little Home e.V., an organisation that’s spread from Cologne to all over Germany and taken their mission to build tiny homes for the houseless with them. Our goal is to build one full tiny home, complete with a bed, shelves, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, camping toilet, and a kitchen work surface!
Dresden, Leipzig & Jena
We will collaborate with three German offices to bring some colour to the new rooms in the women’s shelter in Jena. Our goal is to make the safe space a warm place. Besides painting the rooms we will also help out where needed.
Hamburg
We’re donating gloves, hats, handwarmers, and other small gifts for Post with Heart! In addition to our gifts, we’ll also write letters and postcards to be enclosed with them and sent to long-term care facilities, shelters for the houseless and women’s shelters.
Copenhagen
Our DEPT® Cares initiative is still in the works! Join the Slack channel and stay tuned for the official announcement : )
Zaragoza
We will be joining one of the Manchester activities remotely, so check the local Slack DCD channel to stay updated on the latest changes.
Split
We’re super excited to help out our furry friends for DEPT® Cares! We’ll be gathering donations for food, toys, leashes, anything the dogs & cats at our local animal shelter need. And, as a bonus, we’ve decided to do what we can to help these animals get adopted by sharing their info on our personal social media!
Zagreb
We’re super excited to help out our furry friends for DEPT® Cares! We’ll be gathering donations for food, toys, leashes, anything the dogs & cats at our local animal shelter need. And, as a bonus, we’ve decided to do what we can to help these animals get adopted by sharing their info on our personal social media!
Dublin
The Dublin office is headed to Bull Island! The tiny island is home to hundreds of bird and plant species as well as the Irish hare and to a population of grey & harbour seals. We’ll be helping to preserve this super important habitat by cleaning the shoreline and collecting bags of rubbish, just like we did in 2019!
Skopje
Due to the corona pandemic and the physical distance measures, we decided to turn to the animals. We will help out with cleaning up the surrounding, the parking lot, painting the fences, plant trees, feed the animals…
Amsterdam
We’re teaming up with Vluchtelingenwerk (or: Refugee work) Amsterdam! We’ll probably be offering opportunities to help paint their office or entertain the refugee kids for an afternoon. It might even be a mix of activities! Either way, all the help they can get is more than welcome. Keep an eye on the Slack channel for more info!
Rotterdam
We’re joining forces with Groenemorgen, or “Green Tomorrow,” to green-ifying our home city! We’ll be paying a visit to their sustainable hub to brainstorm on specific sustainability topics as well as getting out to get our hands dirty and make Rotterdam cleaner!
Veenendaal
Our Depsters will get the option of jumping in on Rotterdam’s activity with Groenemorgen or Amsterdam’s activity with Vluchtelingenwerk!
Leeds
Our Depsters will join the Manchester group and choose from a variety of charities and activities! We’ll be offering opportunities to volunteer with Mind Manchester, a mental health charity, to plant trees with the good people of Manchester City of Trees, and to donate essential household items to Afghan refugees. Check Slack for info and find out how to register for a specific activity!
London
London Depsters get a choice of activities to participate in! We’ll have folks volunteering at a local city farm for the day, cleaning up the shoreline of the Thames, or giving back to help local charities to aid refugees and houseless folks. Check Slack for info and find out how to register for a specific activity!
Manchester
Our Depsters will choose from a variety of charities and activities! We’ll be offering opportunities to volunteer with Mind Manchester, a mental health charity in our home city, to plant trees with the good people of Manchester City of Trees, and to donate essential household items to Afghan refugees. Check Slack for info and find out how to register for a specific activity!
Boston
We’re embarking on a fun day of farming and food growing with The Food Project, a Boston-based non-profit that makes sustainably grown food more accessible! Our Depsters will volunteer on a community farm to weed, harvest, and prepare garden beds for the winter!
Denver
We’re offering two volunteer options for the Denver team! One will be volunteering with Metro Cares, a local organisation dedicated to improving food accessibility and especially getting healthy foods to folks in need! The other will be participating in a drive for Thanksgiving foods and warm clothes for houseless folks on behalf of the Denver Rescue Mission!
New York
We’re partnering with Volunteer New York and with Rescue Dogs Rock! The first, a city-wide volunteer initiative, is sending us our DEPT® Cares mission in a box… literally! Our Project in a Box will be to get crafty and create personalised socks and cards for New York’s much-loved, much-appreciated first responders. Our second opportunity will be spent hanging with the friendly canines at a dog rescue, where we’ll do everything from walking the doggos to cleaning and feeding!
Newburyport
We’re embarking on a fun day of farming and food growing with The Food Project, a Boston-based non-profit that makes sustainably grown food more accessible! Our Depsters will volunteer on a community farm to weed, harvest, and prepare garden beds for the winter!
San Diego
Our Depsters will be hosting a drive on behalf of The Alpha Project and collecting blankets, towels, hygiene products, books, & more to help out houseless folks in San Diego. For members of our team who work remotely, we’re hosting a fun virtual event where we’ll make cards fro children in hospital as part of the Send a Smile 4 Kids program!
Los Angeles
While we don’t have a brick-and-mortar office in LA, Depsters in this area are banding together to help out at the local Hollywood Food Coalition Food Bank! They’ll be pulling food orders, unloading donations, sorting through recycling and generally helping make sure food is ready & available to folks who need it!