Volunteers embody the best of humanity, and on International Volunteer Day, we celebrate Oracle Volunteers the world over. They’re action-oriented, creative, skilled, empathetic, and kind. They exemplify Oracle’s culture of caring and connection, and they make a positive impact everywhere they go.
In FY24 alone, 30,150 Oracle Volunteers in 51 countries worked together to advance education, promote health, strengthen communities, and the protect the environment—devoting 126,758 hours of time and talent to complete 2,123 projects worldwide.
Watch the video below to hear from our Project Leaders as they share Oracle Volunteering means to them, and keep reading for more details on their global impact.
“To me, Oracle Volunteering means connecting with others to make positive change,” says Anita Mikulic, Oracle Volunteering Project Leader.
Located in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Anita and her fellow Oracle Volunteers teamed up with a local nonprofit, Ana’s Star, to serve children and families in need. The project focused on collecting non-perishable food items for care packages, which were then distributed to families experiencing vulnerability.
Advancing food security is one of many community causes that unite Oracle Volunteers. In the United States, Project Leader Joe Schmitt has implemented numerous projects with Maryland Food Bank, a nonprofit dedicated to alleviating hunger for families. Together, Joe and his fellow Oracle Volunteers packed over 1,500 meals for distribution across Central Maryland, bringing quality nourishment to children, families, and individuals in need.
“The last thing a child should ever have to worry about is hunger and where their next meal is coming from,” says Joe.
“The last thing a child should ever have to worry about is hunger and where their next meal is coming from,” says Joe.
Like many Project Leaders, his work extends to other focus areas, including health. In FY24, Joe joined dozens of blood drives with the American Red Cross and donated blood over 20 times. Giving blood saves lives—supporting everything from critical care to the development of therapies and cures. It also helps keep blood supplies stable. Someone needs blood every few seconds. There is no substitute for it, but only a tiny fraction of eligible people donate. Joe and others are trying to change that, leading by example.
Oracle Volunteers also provide social support for patients in a variety of healthcare settings. Collaborating with Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia, Project Leader Govind Ammanji and his team supported pediatric patients by assembling care kits containing educational books, art supplies, and personalized cards and stickers.
Additionally, Govind is a passionate advocate for accessibility. “One of my favorite projects was working with Next Sense, a nonprofit that serves children with vision and hearing loss,” says Govind. Together, he and other Oracle Volunteers worked to re-bind translated braille books and make accessible educational materials more easily available. Their efforts included scanning books into digital form, updating databases, and even re-cataloging the library.
Projects like these are deeply meaningful to Oracle Volunteers, but more importantly, they provide critical support and healing to communities.
In service to the greater good, Oracle Volunteers also educate, inspire, and prepare young people for the future. Each year, hundreds of Oracle Volunteering projects give special attention to building literacy, supporting STEAM education, and helping young people become career ready.
Project Leader Maylea Drost devoted a lot of time in FY24 to helping youth in her Las Vegas, Nevada community. She and her fellow Oracle Volunteers teamed up with Spread the Word Nevada to host reading activities, and worked with other nonprofits to collect books for low-income families and host school supply drives. In September, she organized a group of Oracle Volunteers to participate in Junior Achievement’s BizTown activity—where 60 elementary school students learned life skills, like how to open a bank account, manage money, even manage a restaurant!
“If there’s any Oracle Volunteering activity that involves teaching something new to curious minds, sign me up” says Madhavi Bijjur, Oracle Volunteering Project Leader.
Project Leader Madhavi Bijjur also strives to make an impact on education. “If there’s any Oracle Volunteering activity that involves teaching something new to curious minds, sign me up” says Madhavi.
Working with nonprofits and NGOs across India, including Society for Space Education Research and Development and Bodhi Tree Foundation, Madhavi’s projects helped to bring STEAM education to many students, especially girls. She and her fellow Oracle Volunteers organized a space education workshop for 30 female high school students, featuring hands-on learning about aerodynamics, lunar phases, the physics of space flight, and more.
Alongside preparing the next generation of space scientists, Oracle Volunteers support our future here on Earth. In Barcelona, Spain, Project Leader Carolina Fraile is passionate about caring for the environment, and in FY24, her projects protected biodiversity, promoted a circular economy, and taught green skills. Through work with Associació de l’Hort de la Font Trobada, she and her fellow volunteers planted community gardens to restored native vegetation. With Fundació Espigoladors, she helped to host a community meal and raise awareness about food waste. Participants re-used leftovers, optimized ingredients, and shared resources to activate the principles of better food usage.
According to Project Leader Rishika Punjabi, “Oracle Volunteering fosters a sense of focus, teamwork, and connection with the community.”
According to Project Leader Rishika Punjabi, “Oracle Volunteering fosters a sense of focus, teamwork, and connection with the community.” And, she’s right.
By leading with their humanity, building relationships, and working together, Oracle Volunteers make our world a better, brighter place. We celebrate and appreciate them on International Volunteer Day and every day.