Over the years, many Meraki employees have found ways to volunteer and give back to causes they are passionate about. About a year and a half ago, some Meraki go-getters wanted to take this interest already inherent in many employees and create a central, company-wide volunteer program that would promote team bonding and create an impact of scale around the Bay Area. After many months of planning, Meraki Gives was born!

Since its launch, Meraki Gives has organized quite a few activities including a local food bank volunteer day, a PB&J sandwich assembly line to help local organizations fight hunger, a holiday card-making session for survivors of domestic violence, and most recently, a company-wide school supply drive to help local students head back to school with backpacks filled to the brim.

Just a few of the school supplies Meraki employees gave to kick off this school year.

The enthusiasm we’ve seen in the office around these activities has been extremely inspiring. Managers have found crafty methods and motivational words to promote healthy inter-team competition for donation drives, employees have put an incredible amount of attention to detail in the gifts and supplies they bring in, and the company is always looking for more ways to give back.

Employees making hundreds of tasty PB&J sandwiches to fight local hunger.

The Meraki Gives planning team is currently looking for more volunteering opportunities in San Francisco and the surrounding area. If you have a cause or activity you think would be a good fit, please let us know! Shoot us an email at merakigives@meraki.com.

Meraki volunteers at the SF Marin Food Bank earlier this year.

If you’re interested in keeping up with Meraki Gives, follow the Meraki Facebook page for updates about what we’re up to. Maybe we’ll see you out and about in the community!