Working at PepsiCo, I’ve created PowerPoint decks, given presentations, reviewed sales numbers, updated spreadsheets, mulched a New Orleans park, packed boxes of food for a Texas food bank, painted a New York community center, handed out winter coats, fished, helped elementary school girls with yoga poses, etc.
As the old adage goes, a lot of people like to join a company that works hard and plays hard. An aspect I love about working at PepsiCo is that very often, that mantra manifests as “Work hard, give back,” with the fun mixed in. On a perfect, sunny July morning, six co-workers and I did just that! PepsiCo is a Corporate Champion sponsor for Girls in the Game in Chicago, a non-profit organization that “provides and promotes sports and fitness opportunities, nutrition and health education, and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well-being of girls.” I was introduced to Girls in the Game (GIG as we often call it) through volunteering for two hours at one of PepsiCo’s Game Days with GIG in 2009. I WAS HOOKED! GIG brings Chicago Public School girls from diverse neighborhoods and backgrounds together to learn a variety of sports, along with sportsmanship, health and self esteem lessons. When the opportunity came up to lead a part of PepsiCo’s relationship with GIG through my involvement with the Women’s Inclusion Network, a PepsiCo Employee Resource Group, I jumped on it!
The first event I led was coordinating PepsiCo Day at GIG summer camp, where volunteers from various PepsiCo departments (a great opportunity to network and learn more about the parts of the business that I don’t work on) spent the morning at Union Park in Chicago as “Guest Coaches.” We met enthusiastic campers; incredible rising leaders in the high school seniors who were junior camp counselors; and driven difference-makers in the GIG staff, who were all so welcoming! We knew that it was going to be a great morning! Some volunteers were tasked with awarding stickers (a.k.a. lap counters) to the campers and cheer them on as they ran laps to test their fitness at the beginning of camp, which would then be tested a month later to measure improvement. We also helped out with yoga sessions, created team cheers and played various other games. The campers were clearly having a blast, and so were we!
Before the volunteers headed back to the office, the campers presented us with a beautiful banner that they had all signed, thanking PepsiCo for the sponsorship that makes their camp possible, the Quaker Chewy granola bars and Gatorade that they enjoy for refreshment and us for our time with them. This banner goes with me to our WIN community committee meetings as a reminder of the people in the community that PepsiCo’s sponsorships and volunteers impact!
