When it comes to CSR activities in HP Inc. Romania, our focus is on 3 domains: education, society and ecology. In one word: the future. And we could not be prouder of the amazing group of volunteers our CSR team has. Throughout this year, we have planned 17 projects, so it was rather difficult choosing from all of them.
Let’s start with education and more precisely with Code Club. We have all heard and read about the skills of the future, but how do you put them into practice outside your organization? This is how we came up with our initiative. Code Club takes place twice a year, each time in different schools around Bucharest and our aim is to demystify coding for kids. Our latest session took place in June, we visited 7 schools and showed 425 kids with ages between 11 to 13 how to design some of their favorite video games. This means that Star Wars fans get to create their very own video game.
When we considered social projects, we looked at influencing the lives of different segments. Everyone deserves to have the same chances in life and, having this in mind, we launched our Letter from a New Mother projects. Gathering letters from 30 new mothers with children up to the age of 3, translated into teamwork and communication for our volunteers. Strollers, baby carriers, cribs, diapers and baby clothes were just some of the items mentioned in the letters. The result? An easier start in life for mothers and their newborns.
And speaking of children, our next initiative was dedicated to those who, at the time being, cannot go outside and have adventures with their friends. So, we gathered all the storytellers in organization and went to the Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital and Nicolae Robanescu Recovery Center. Together with the children, we wandered the globe, made friends and had exciting adventures with the help of books. And we all received the same question: When will you be back? That’s why we already started planning our next edition of Bed Time Story.
Another social project very dear to us is Oldies but Goldies and we think the name says it all. Twice a year we visit one of the senior centers in Bucharest to spend our Fridays with the elderly ladies and gentlemen residing there. We volunteer our time, play chess and backgammon and in return they volunteer their wisdom!
Last but not least, let’s talk about the environment and the impact of our daily actions. We fight for a greener environment and one of the main objectives is right here in Bucharest: the Botanical Garden, our city’s garden. This May, 88 volunteers brought a breath of fresh air to our city by cleaning and planting 73 new species of plants from the Rosaceae family in the Taxonomic Section of the Botanical Garden. And we can’t wait to go back in autumn to see the results of our work and add to them!
Another major concern for our planet is the use and disposal of plastic. Over 230 million tons of rubbish accumulate in landfills yearly (each person on average produces > 725 kg rubbish/year). Therefore, we asked ourselves what can we do to save our planet? Each year we host HP by the Sea, one of our most important CSR activities. This year, we have over 80 volunteers travelling to the seaside. Within a few hours, we collected more than 457 kg of plastic, rubbish, hazardous waste and cigarette buds! To make sure the legacy of our work will endure by placing 2 informative signs. What does this mean? 2 kilometers of clean beach between Eforie Nord and Eforie Sud, a more enjoyable experience for tourists, less plastic and waste for our oceans and a lot more awareness!
And since our country has all the landscape forms, on the 23rd of August we will be travelling to Piatra Craiului during what we call HP Path. This way we make sure our mountains are plastic free as well!