Ostendio has joined the Pledge 1% movement, a national philanthropic organization encouraging companies to give 1 percent of their equity, employee time and products to good causes. Ostendio has committed to 1/1/1, which means committing at least 1% of employee time, equity and product to worthy causes.
At Ostendio we have a deep commitment to the concept that everyone deserves to have access to excellent and affordable healthcare, independent of where they live or how much they can afford. This is why Ostendio joined Pledge 1%, which now has over 2,700 members in over 60 countries.
Pledge 1% in Action
The Ostendio team spent an afternoon in February giving back to the local community by volunteering with the Arlington Food Assistance Center. Ostendio was tasked with bagging food for the Backpack Buddies program. The Backpack Buddies program provides weekend and holiday meal packs for food-insecure Arlington County schoolchildren.
A recent study commissioned by AFAC and conducted by Virginia Tech’s Center for Social Research estimates that as many as 9,400 children in Arlington are food insecure. For many of these children, their lunchtime meal at school is their only meal each day. Over weekends or holiday breaks, these children often go with little to no food. AFAC’s Backpack Buddies program strives to help these children.
The Ostendio Team Volunteering
On Fridays at their school, each child in the Backpack Buddies program is given a backpack filled with nourishment for the weekend. Items usually distributed in the backpacks are ready-to-eat meals, microwave soups, snack bars, fruit cups, shelf-stable milk, fresh produce, and canned vegetables. There is enough food in each pack to feed the child for two days (six meals, plus snacks). Members from Ostendio packed up 200 bags of food.
The Backpack Buddies program runs year-round. AFAC coordinates with all of the Arlington Public Schools as well as several community centers, after-care programs, and summer camps to make sure all children in our community have the food they need when the weekend comes.
The Ostendio team had a great time knowing that they had spent the day helping young children get access to additional food resources. We’re already planning our second volunteer day in August!
