AIAIO: Our Blog

Thousands of children live in homeless and domestic violence shelters throughout New York City. One of the devastating consequences of homelessness is the impact it has on a child’s education. We wanted to help. For most of July we hosted a backpack and school supplies drive in partnership with Volunteers of America’s Operation Backpack.

The drive started slow. But the IT Director stepped it up when he ordered 10 backpacks (!!) for his team to fill with supplies. Once the ball was rolling, we had some contributions from the creative and tech teams. However, it was the account services team that took the lead with only a few days left. These 6 people (including our summer Project Management intern) generously each donated a bag stuffed to its brim with the recommended supplies.

Backpacks were labeled by gender and grade and many of our contributions were coincidentally geared towards elementary school-aged kids (our inner 3rd graders peaked their heads when purchasing Spiderman or neon colored bags). Suggested school supplies to fill the backpack included loose-leaf paper, pencils, pens, markers, pencil bag or box, rulers, glue sticks, folders, three-ring binders, notebooks…and the list went on.

These backpacks and supplies mean a lot to the children, helping them go back to school with all of the material they need and a boost of confidence! We are proud to have made a small contribution to Operation Backpack, especially since we know it will make a big difference to the individual families and children who receive our bags.

GO ACCOUNT SERVICES TEAM!

Last Wednesday 10 Ai-ers took the morning to volunteer with Citymeals-On-Wheels delivering hot and cold meals to New York City’s homebound elderly. This was the second Meals-On-Wheels event for Ai, although it was my first experience.  The first Ai event was on the Upper East Side, and this event brought us to the west side in Hell’s Kitchen.

For many of the seniors, the Meals-On-Wheels volunteer is the only person they may interact with in an average day.  All those that receive meals are 60 years or older, physically and/or mentally incapacitated and in need of some assistance. These seniors are unable to prepare nutritious meals for themselves and generally have no family or friends nearby to help. Ai stepped in to lend a hand.

The 10 of us, split among 4 separate routes, trekked along a 15 block radius delivering meals. While some folks simply asked for the meals (one woman asking us to slip it through the window of her ground floor apartment), others enjoyed spending a few minutes chatting.  Regardless of how much interaction occurred, the recipients were always happy to see us and appreciative of the help. In fact, one recipient asked my group to help take out his trash – we were happy to oblige knowing this household task would be very difficult for him.

Last year, City-Meals-On-Wheels delivered over 2 million healthy meals and companionship to 16,232 seniors throughout NYC. Ai is proud to be part of this year’s numbers. It was a rewarding experience and we will be back. Downtown- here we come.

April means a lot of things both good, start of major league baseball, and not-so-much, rain showers and tax deadlines. But for us at Ai it also means supporting of March of Dimes, March for Babies.

Each year Team Levine, Chief Experience Officer and cofounder Josh Levine, his wife Paulina and their two (adorable!) children, raise astronomical numbers towards preventing premature births and finding solutions to the problems that threaten our babies. This year is no different, and Ai is there to join the fight.

This past Friday’s Hamster Time was March for Babies themed including strawberry milk baby bottle contests and a variety of baby foods. For any contest winners (and even those activities which there was no clear winner), Josh donated $50 to the March of Dimes, raising $350 for the cause.

The fight doesn’t stop there- many Ai-ers will attend the Team Levine Annual Fundraiser, Thursday, April 26^th at 6pm at Traffic bar & Restaurant, 986 2^nd Ave. This weekend Ai will take the campaign to the streets as we proudly stroll beside Josh and his family at the walk on Sunday, April 29^th at Lincoln Center.

For more information about the cause, fundraiser or walk, or to make a donation check out the Team Levine website:  http://www.goteamlevine.com/.