What started with Microsoft’s annual “GIVE Month,” celebrated each October, has become a year-round volunteering initiative for Jim Urbaitis and his Xbox colleagues.
Inspired both by the company’s strong giving spirit and his own upbringing by a mother who emphasized caring for others, Jim led the charge to expand his team’s impact from one month of giving time, money and product, to an ongoing volunteer effort throughout the year.
Food Lifeline is thrilled to be a direct beneficiary of the Xbox team’s volunteer service. Each month, Jim and his colleagues come to our Hunger Solution Center for a three-hour shift.
“In a short amount of time we have a direct impact in the state of Washington,” Jim says. “You walk away from the experience feeling refreshed and rewarded and energized.”
Jim’s earliest volunteer activities were as a child alongside his mother and siblings. Even though he says his family didn’t always have a lot, he learned to recognize his own advantages in life and how to use his resources to help others.
Once he had children of his own, Jim says he felt strongly that he wanted to incorporate more volunteerism back into his life. He truly enjoys being a part of Food Lifeline’s volunteer network and wants to encourage anyone and everyone to join the cause of hunger relief in whatever capacity they can.
“You can provide that energy and effort to bring families together and make sure they have food to eat,” Jim says.
We simply couldn’t do the work of feeding hungry people without the generous contributions of time from volunteers like Jim and his Microsoft colleagues!
