Special Blog Post By: Alisa Tantraphol, Corporate & Foundation Relations Manager
We are proud to announce eBay’s Dave Macchi and Darleen Keegan as our 8th Brocade and 49ers Most Valuable Coordinators.
“I’ve taken up a paper route,” jokes Dave Macchi, fitness manager at eBay. Dave was so committed to ensuring an eBay “Fill the Truck” food collection event was a success that he spent 15 hours of his own time – during Thanksgiving weekend, no less – personally distributing fliers for the event at all 5,000 workstations on the eBay campus.
Dave Macchi, along with Fitness Center manager Darleen Keegan, coordinated a Holiday Food & Fund Drive to benefit Second Harvest Food Bank. Their goal was to raise almost three times as much food as last year, to collect 15,000 pounds of food before the end of their drive.
Dave and Dar hosted a five-week “Turkey Challenge.” It was a walking challenge to encourage employees to spend less of their day sitting – for personal rewards as well as community benefit. A 25-pound food donation to Second Harvest was the registration fee. It’s a small price to pay for a FitBit pedometer and five weeks’ worth of exercise and health tips from the top-notch Club One team that runs the Fitness Center at eBay. The registration fee also put employees in the running for prizes such as free personal training sessions, massages, and iPods.
Hugh Williams (right), Vice President at eBay, says, “Dave and Darleen make me proud to be an eBay employee. Making a difference in the community is what we're all about, and their contribution as coordinators has been amazing in helping feed so many families in need this year."
With 650 participants, the registration fee alone was enough to catapult eBay past their goal of 15,000 pounds, but for Dave and Darleen, that was just the beginning. To incentivize people to continue giving, they enlisted seven Vice Presidents from the technology division, each of whom personally put up a prize to encourage their employees to donate the most food.
Although employees agree that it’s for a good cause, a lot of them contribute because of Dave and Darleen – their enthusiasm is contagious.
Just ask eBay CEO John Donahoe, who tells us, “Dave and Darleen have inspired so many of us at eBay to get involved with Second Harvest Food Bank. They have taken remarkable initiative and their passion has been infectious. What a wonderful way to have an impact!”
Darleen is passionate about helping people get through tough times.
When people question why the Fitness Center is running a food drive, Darleen has been open about what makes it so personal for her: “When my husband walked out on my kids and me, we needed help from the food bank. You never know who you’ll be helping.”
Darleen has turned the memory of a difficult period into the fire that drives one of the most successful Holiday Food & Fund Drives in Silicon Valley. She and Dave are proof that a combination of passion, creativity, competition and incentives can inspire others to make a difference in the lives of tens of thousands of neighbors.
