VOLUNTEER EFFORTS PAID OFF IN NEW ORLEANS

Convergence 2009 took volunteerism and sustainability efforts to the next level. With a focus on community service and a desire to help the city of New Orleans, over 400 attendees got their hands dirty volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and Projects with Purpose, to help rebuild part of Musicians’ Village in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans. Musician’s Village is the vision of musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, whose desire was to bring musicians back home after the devastating storms of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and to ensure that the musical culture and heritage of New Orleans was not lost.

Volunteers worked near the core site of the village on a range of projects including framing, hammering, sawing, leveling ground, moving sand and dirt, and more. The work of the volunteers impacted nearly a dozen families at the site.

Photos are available for you to view by clicking here.

Along with the volunteer efforts, Microsoft also made collection bins available onsite for attendees that wished to donate their conference bag or other materials to a local New Orleans school, and donated $1.00 for every attendee that filled out a conference evaluation form to the Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana to assist in local youth programs.

A hearty thank you and round of applause goes to all the hard workers who gave of their time, their strength and their enthusiasm to participate in this inspiring group effort. We plan to make this a standard Convergence event. To see a video recap of the day’s events, visit Virtual Convergence.

DONATION OPPORTUNITIES

If you were not able to join us for this volunteer opportunity but would like to contribute in another way, please visit the link of the organization below:

If you have any other questions about volunteer or donation opportunities, please contact the MBS Events inbox at mbs-evnt@microsoft.com.

Through monetary grants, software and curriculum donations, technology solutions, and employee volunteer hours, Microsoft supports programs and organizations that address the needs of communities worldwide. In FY08, Microsoft and its employees provided over $67 million in cash, services and software to nonprofits in Washington state through localized, company-sponsored giving and volunteer campaigns.

To learn more about Microsoft’s support of communities around the world, please visit www.microsoft.com/giving.