October was a month of action for breast cancer awareness among Oracle Volunteers. Across the globe, employees took part in activities virtually, remotely, and socially distanced to support survivors and patients facing breast cancer.
Here are just a few ways Oracle Volunteers demonstrated their solidarity during the month of October:
Oracle social media presence on Tech Day of Pink
October 14 marked the annual Tech Day of Pink, an initiative inspired by The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign that aims to unite the global tech community around breast cancer awareness, education, and fundraising.
Oracle committed to increasing visibility and support for breast cancer awareness during Tech Day of Pink through mass social media amplification. On October 14, Oracle employees were encouraged to share photos of themselves wearing pink and/or using a specially designed Zoom background featuring the pink ribbon, the international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Photos were posted on social using the hashtags #TechInPink2021 and #TimeToEndBreastCancer. Oracle logos were also turned pink for the day across social media channels.
Oracle holds Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support
Not even a global shutdown could stop Oracle employees from supporting the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, the largest fundraising event under UK-based Macmillan Cancer Support.
Every year throughout the UK, participants sign up through Macmillan to host their own Coffee Mornings on or around the same designated day. The proceeds from these events go directly to Macmillan, which provides specialist healthcare, information, and financial support to those affected by cancer.
Oracle UK Corporate Citizenship Community Leader Joy Marshall has seen her own Coffee Morning grow in the 13 years she has been involved with Macmillan. What started with Marshall bringing coffee and home-baked goods to around 30 engineers is now an event celebrated in 10 UK Oracle offices.
“We want to support the charity by raising awareness of what they do with our employees,” says Marshall. “It creates a community of people who look out for one another. Without these events, that wouldn’t necessarily be happening.”
This year, the traditionally in-person event was replaced by Oracle’s Coffee Morning on Zoom. The virtual event featured breakout rooms for personal conversations among attendees, support from Macmillan representatives, and Oracle intern-led activities, such as a scavenger hunt and a quiz competition.
Oracle Volunteers assemble bags for cancer patients
As a breast cancer survivor, Oracle Account Executive Vanessa Chapoy remembers her first time in chemotherapy and how she forgot to bring socks that would keep her warm and comfortable during treatment. A nurse then came in to deliver Chapoy a goodie bag with lotion, a book of brain teasers, and, most notably, fuzzy socks.
The gesture stuck with her and inspired her and a few Washington, DC-based Oracle Volunteers to assemble bags of unscented lotion, mints, soft beanies, and other items purchased through a gift registry created by Chapoy. This year, the team will distribute approximately 150 bags to patients during November, in a partnership with The Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
“We want breast cancer awareness month to also be an action month, whether you’re doing something to fund research or help people going through treatment,” says Chapoy.
Collection drive for head scarves in Oracle Mexico
for patients with cancer.
Volunteers in Mexico from Oracle Women’s Leadership (OWL) have collected handmade and brand-new head scarves for patients with cancer. This year, they partnered with CIMA Fundación—a nonprofit that uses information, education, patient service, and community programs to reduce mortality from breast cancer in Mexico—to distribute the head scarves and hold an informational panel for Oracle Mexico during breast cancer awareness month.
The panel, arranged by Applications Executive Assistant Karina Bolaños and Sales Senior Manager Maritza Sevillano, featured CIMA psychologists, a patient of CIMA, and an oncologist who shared their unique perspectives and knowledge of breast cancer.
OWL Leader Corinne García and Corporate Citizenship Leader Elena De La Torre helped in the organization of the head scarf drive, which will accept donations from Oracle Volunteers in Mexico until November 12.
“Each year, it’s important to us to create a volunteering activity to go with an idea for an event, like a panel with speakers,” says De La Torre. “We want these scarves to go to women so they can feel more comfortable and secure.”
Cure in Greece for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Virtual walks connecting Oracle around the world
To keep Oracle employees active and connected, virtual walks have united colleagues in the midst of a pandemic, even on opposite ends of the globe.
Ohio-based Sales and Business Development Consultant Jordyn Lemons brought the idea of doing a virtual 5K walk/run to her colleagues during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Knowing that her team at Oracle is spread out through the west and east coast, Lemons saw the virtual walk as a way to include all team members in rallying behind an important cause. Lemons, along with Sales and Business Development Consultant Taylor Eide and Manager of Business Development Consultants Paige Johnson, coordinated their team’s participation in Pinkathon’s virtual 5K. Throughout the month of October, runners and walkers were encouraged to complete their 5K and share photos of their outings through the Strava exercise tracking app and social media.
Providing flexibility also proved to be a success for Oracle Volunteers in this year’s Greece Race for the Cure, organized by the Athens-based Alma Zois nonprofit supporting women with breast cancer. Since 2020, the nonprofit has modified the event as the Digital Race for the Cure where Oracle Volunteers organized walks or runs around their neighborhoods in Greece during the month of October. Oracle Academy Program Manager Eleni Tsipa, who led this volunteering project, and approximately 10 other participants under Oracle completed their races alone or with immediate family members and shared their photos on social media using the event’s hashtag.
“Virtual events like this are usually more flexible, when it comes to space and time,” says Tsipa. “It’s also simpler to engage your family and friends, and the awareness raised via social media by posting our pictures lasts longer than when a physical event happens on one specific day.”