Well yes.

Johan MacKenzie, Tocci’s comptroller, heads out Sunday evening for her Habitat Global Village trip to Cape Town, South Africa.  This trip is a culmination of her service projects over the past 12 years. A frequent Habitat volunteer, and more recently an annual New Orleans volunteer, she yearned for a greater challenge and a truer test of her mettle. This yearning led her to apply for a spot on Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village team.

To her delight her application was accepted—she was properly vetted, her references approved, background check cleared– but a bit daunted by the money she needed to raise:  over $6,000. Resourceful as ever, she applied to her church for a grant to pay for her flight, dipped into her savings for personal expenses, and asked Tocci for a donation.

Donation? No, this type of effort—using your vacation to help people who lack the means to help themselves—deserves a matching grant. Tocci began a program for employees to apply for a matching funds grant, where the company matches employee donations for projects in line with Tocci’s vision and values.

In April we kicked off the program at a Wednesday morning coffee break and followed up two weeks later with a fundraising lunch: homemade meatball subs ‘n salad where we raised $310. A great beginning.

Mid-May when all the donations were counted and matched, and the check was written out for Habitat, we were close to our goal of $2200. Not bad for our first shot at Tocci-wide charitable giving, not bad at all.

Johan has promised to communicate via a blog—hoping to have internet access. We look forward to updating you on her progress as her team builds a world away.

I’m excited to be traveling to South Africa as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program. I’ll be working side-by-side with people who need a decent place to live, helping to build simple, affordable houses.

Please visit my Habitat Web page, where you can learn more about my trip.