As part of the Sabre Give Time Together campaign, Sabre employees around the world traded a day in the office to help the homeless, feed the hungry, rebuild after disaster and champion children.
The annual event, which has been in place since 2006, enabled Sabre employees to collectively and simultaneously participate in more than 280 volunteer events in five continents around the world, ringing up a total of more than 14,000 hours of volunteer time.
Montevideo, Uruguay: Over 400 Sabre employees joined the U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay, David D. Nelson, at a “2 day Villa Dolores ZOO Extreme-Makeover,” where over 106 gallons of paint, and 260 brushes and rollers were used to renovate 460 meters of walls over six acres of land. The Zoo’s renovation will benefit more than 550,000 children who annually visit the Zoo.
Reykjavík, Iceland: While many travelers spent most of last week returning home after Mount Eyjafjallajokull’s eruption, employees of Sabre Iceland, acquired by Sabre in March, have been dealing with the impact of this particular volcano’s first eruption in almost 200 years. In true Give Time Together spirit, the team rallied through the ashes to help farmers who were hit hard as a result of the volcano. Aid was provided by Sabre employees to four different farms in the area. The volunteer services coordinator for the farms shared that this activity is really important from a psychological perspective and helps the general mood in the area.
San Francisco, California: Ocean Beach is the ultimate place to throw a seaside bonfire in San Francisco, but it was in need of a little love and a big clean. Twenty five employees got up bright and early on Wednesday morning to get their hands dirty for a good cause. Working together over the huge expanse abutting the mighty Pacific, they picked up a whopping 40 pounds of trash. Even the classic San Francisco cold weather couldn’t stop these do-gooders, enabling locals to enjoy a cleaner, greener Ocean Beach once again.
Bangalore, India: Employees from Sabre in Bangalore, India volunteered at the Shristi Special Academy, an academy that focuses on the “differently-abled,” for the third year in a row. A full day at the academy was spent focusing on infrastructure improvements, shifting and organizing artifacts in the new storeroom, scrubbing the dining hall floor and the old store room and installing a cooling system for the dining hall. Employees said it was a wonderful experience knowing that their efforts will be useful to the wonderful kids studying and growing at the academy.
“Every year our employees embrace this campaign with enthusiasm and commitment, and this year was no exception,” said Barbra Anderson, director of Corporate Responsibility at Sabre Holdings “Their efforts have made Give Time Together week one of the broadest reaching corporate volunteerism programs in the world, which benefits both the communities and charitable organizations we serve, as well as employees themselves who gain a different perspective about the world around them and which ultimately improves our company’s culture and the service we provide our customers.”