Some say that publicizing good deeds is wrong. We want to challenge this perception by telling you about the charitable efforts of our employees all over the world. From helping children with Down syndrome and young patients battling cancer in remote Russian regions, to aiding children from orphanages in the small Russian town of Udomlya and Malaysia, to assisting underprivileged families and even a zoo and a museum in the U.S. and Brazil. Our good deeds map highlights just a few of the projects in which our incredible colleagues have found time to participate.
“We're proud to have witnessed the Kaspersky volunteer team transform into a responsive and self-organizing force in the last 10 years. Our offices all over the world are on the same page when it comes to volunteering,” says Anastasiya Marentsova, CSR Manager at Kaspersky. “Our colleagues have such trust in the ideologues of charitable projects that it's enough to suggest an idea to find volunteers, time, and, of course, resources to support any initiative and to see it through.”
Every one or two months, Kaspersky’s Moscow-based employees receive an email with a subject that depends on the time of year and our plans. Examples include: “Good deeds planned for August and September”; “A large New Year digest of good deeds and gifts”; or “Charity runs, donating blood, and the early-spring dancing marathon”. Our colleagues rush to claim their share of good deeds, individually or within teams.
2019 was truly remarkable for Kaspersky in North America, in terms of our colleagues' charitable efforts and good deeds. They participated in over 25 charity projects and supported around 35 non-profit organizations, raising funds, donating their time, and simply supporting them in the best way possible.
For the second year in a row, Christmas market stalls were installed between the buildings of our central office in Moscow, and the charity market welcomed a host of customers once again. There, you could find anything from handmade postcards, Christmas balls and wreaths, to ceramic tableware, knitted accessories, delicious homemade pastries, and even home-brewed beer. Half of the stalls are occupied by company employees, and the other half by volunteers from a partner charity fund. In 2019, we partnered with the ZHIVI Foundation, which helps children battling cancer in various regions of Russia.
Just three hours after the market opened its doors, the team had gathered 560,000 rubles (around $7,200). Kaspersky doubled the amount of donations and transferred 1,120,000 rubles (around $ 14,400) to the charity fund. A children's clinical hospital in the city of Tula will use this money to equip a playground for its younger patients who are undergoing heavy treatment.
Running and cycling for a good cause
Many sports enthusiasts who work at Kaspersky enjoy participating in running and cycling charity races and tours, as well as football matches that bring together regular athletes and players with disabilities.
What does our athletic volunteering look like? Kaspersky sponsors an upcoming cycling or running race and invites its employees to register for the event at a specialized fundraising platform, such as Sport vo Blago (“Sports for a Good Cause”). The Sindrom Lyubvi (“Syndrome of Love”) Foundation uses this platform to collect donations to assist families who are raising children with Down syndrome.
The company always covers its employees' participation fees, but our colleagues often donate on top of that amount. They also outdo themselves on racetracks and in cycling studios, upping their share of endorphins in the process.
The company has around 100 volunteer athletes who are ready to cover a few kilometers for a good cause in any weather. The money they raise and donate goes to psychologists and pedagogues who supervise children with disabilities and their parents from birth to their first employment.
Helping an orphanage in the town of Udomlya
The Kaspersky team has a tradition of visiting an orphanage in the small town of Udomlya near Tver at least four times a year. At six in the morning, a car with a few volunteers and material aid drives out of the company's premises in Moscow. The aid includes clothes and footwear, home appliances, computers, acoustic equipment, paper stationery, sports equipment, small household items, and other practical items. The volunteers return late in the evening or even the next day. Every trip includes a detailed plan of activities for the kids: quests, workshops, two-day hikes, or simply spending time together playing games.
Kaspersky started supporting this orphanage 10 years ago. Since then, many of its charges have grown up and become our close friends. We only broke the tradition of four visits a year once – in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Our colleagues did visit the orphanage in March, though, and have been keeping in touch online by exchanging messages and arranging Zoom calls. We have certainly not lost contact with Udomlya and our charges, and hope to visit them again in person soon.
Donating blood
Twice a year, Kaspersky's head office commemorates Donor Day. On the most recent occasion in 2019, around 160 volunteers donated over 70 liters of blood to the mobile team of the Blood Center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) of Russia. Trying to calculate how many lives this amount of blood may help save is impossible and irrelevant, all the more so because 150 of our colleagues are regular blood donors who do not need additional motivation. We know for a fact that many of them responded to our call to help hospitals and blood transfusion stations during lockdown. In April and May, they donated blood to the nearest available healthcare institution on their own.
Launching fund-raising campaigns
From time to time, we announce in-house fundraising campaigns for a wide range of causes. The choice depends on the time of year and the relevance of issues. Thus, during the pandemic, we raised money to help doctors. In peaceful times, we sometimes help hospices or hospitals to cover specific needs such as the provision of anti-bedsore mattresses, treats for patients, flowers for personnel on special occasions, and much more.
We launched our biggest fundraiser before the winter holidays to send gifts donated by our colleagues to elderly residents of nursing homes, hospice patients, and families raising children with Down syndrome.
Our employees traditionally donate to Syndrome of Love Foundation two or three times a year. Thanks to these regular donations, the parents of children with disabilities receive helpful gifts in the form of free counseling sessions, hours of online support, sets of developmental books, and other contributions to their children's development and education.
Helping children and young people from low-income families
Our colleagues support children and teenagers needing help for a variety of reasons. A few of our partner foundations hold regular campaigns to gather or to sort clothes and essentials for them, as well as provide training and employment to young people in difficult situations.
For instance, receiving lists from three families with newborns, our colleagues bought everything these babies would need to grow and to develop, from warm clothes and prams to toys, diapers, and other small items. This assistance program called Adopt a Family is an initiative of the Woburn Council for Social Concern.
Another partner charity, the Boston branch of Cradles to Crayons, sometimes asks volunteers to help with the sorting of items donated to the foundation by individuals and businesses. In 2019, our colleagues spent one day at the foundation warehouse and packed 1,012 parcels for children of different age groups. Infants' parents received clothes, toys, diapers, wet wipes, formula, and many more items, while schoolchildren received clothes and stationery.
Finally, our colleagues regularly donate books to a charity called More Than Words. This foundation employs young people aged 16 to 24 who grew up in foster families, have a criminal record, are homeless, or did not attend school. To that end, it allows them to run a book-selling business, trading in second-hand books in a good condition, among other items. After a training course, every teenager or youth can find employment with either of More Than Words stores or in online sales.
Cleaning the Stone Zoo
One of the largest and most spectacular local zoos, Stone Zoo is not far from the Kaspersky U.S. office. In 2019, 15 Kaspersky employees spent a day helping zoo staff to clean and prepare gift boxes and other materials for the zoo's ambitious annual fundraiser.
Helping Boston Children's Hospital online
In 2018, we started supporting one of the largest children's hospitals in Boston. During this year’s pandemic, the hospital moved some of its charity projects online. Our colleagues participated in the week long virtual Corporate Cup 2020, one of the world's largest fundraising campaigns, which has gathered an astonishing $610 million throughout its existence! Kaspersky colleagues worked together as a team to compete in virtual activities and fundraise.
Buying pies to help Community Servings, a charity for chronically and critically ill people
This charity runs an annual Pie in the Sky campaign in collaboration with friendly bakeries, which make delicious Thanksgiving pies. The proceeds from the sales of pies help support the charges of the foundation. Most of them are seriously ill or underprivileged individuals and families who benefit from the deliveries of hot meals or a well-balanced, medically tailored nutrition plan. Last year, the profits from the sales of pastries paid for 833 free meals.
Helping the region's largest charitable foundation
In 2019, Kaspersky partnered with Dubai-based non-profit organization, Gulf for Good, which helps children all over the world through a multitude of programs and campaigns focused on education, healthcare, or improvement of living conditions. We donate a share of profits from the sales of our B2C products to the foundation.
Protecting the Dubai Autism Center
The year 2020 marked the 10th anniversary of Kaspersky protecting the Dubai Autism Center from cyberattacks, fraud, and threats. One of the nation's largest innovative non-profits, the Center helps children with autism-based disorders and their parents. It features a school for 240 pupils and a multitude of therapeutic facilities. Every charge of the center follows an individual development plan. Our company has supplied licenses for antimalware protection of 100 endpoints at the Autism Center.
Celebrating Muslim New Year with children from orphanages
In June 2019, our colleagues from the regional office celebrated Hari Raya Puasa with the charges of two Kuala Lumpur orphanages supported by Kaspersky. One of the orphanages is for people with developmental disorders. We help these institutions to buy clothes, food, and other essentials, in addition to occasionally holding workshops.
Helping Ronald McDonald House Charities in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
This historic foundation builds hotels not far from cancer hospitals to offer accommodation to parents accompanying children during a long course of treatment. The charity also helps such families cover expenses for food, transportation, education, counseling, and rehabilitation. The Brazilian branch has supported over 3,000 children. Meanwhile, Kaspersky installed its antimalware solutions on the foundation employees' computers and offered gifts to the foundation's charges on behalf of the company's numerous partners.
Protecting the São Paulo Museum of Art
One of the best-known museums in Latin America, the São Paulo Museum of Art displays around 8,000 Italian and French masterpieces as well as a large collection of Brazilian paintings and sculptures. Kaspersky has supplied free security for 125 of the museum's endpoints and eight servers to protect it against cyberthreats and fraud.
