Giving Back: McAfee Global Community Service Day

McAfee

May 19, 2014

2 MIN READ

This past Thursday, McAfee had its 3^rd annual Global Community Service Day (GCSD). With McAfee’s workforce turning up to volunteer at a variety of charities and non-profits in more than 25 countries across the globe, I think it’s safe to say that the day was a success. Between delivering meals to those in need, volunteering with at risk youth, donating blood, and assisting at local animal shelters, our teams wholeheartedly dove into their tasks in a day of giving back to the community.

At McAfee, though we make it our mission to protect the digital lives and information of our customers, we also believe in taking time to step back and engage in activities outside of the office. As beneficial as computers, tablets and smartphones have become to our daily lives, we must remember the importance of giving back to our communities.

For this year’s GCSD, we worked with the Habitat for Humanity, a cause that is close to my heart. Our project was to design and build playhouses that were donated to the children of US veterans. As a veteran, I understand and appreciate what military families endure and was delighted to do something to support them.

To see and experience the expressions of awe as the children were introduced to their new playhouse was heart lifting and memorable. It was a pleasure to design and build an environment that allows children to explore and use their imaginations, but to me, these houses represent more than that. They represent a place that is physically safe for children—a real world extension of the work we strive to do daily: develop a safe environment in the digital world.

To help foster a safe digital environment for children, several McAfee employees went into schools as part of our Online Safety for Kids (OSK) program. To date, McAfee has taught more than 200,000 children these skills by going into schools across the world, and engaging with students on the benefits and dangers the Internet can bring.