In January Intel Ireland announced that Saplings Rathfarnham and Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue had been selected as our 2019 signature charities.
Every year we select two charities for our employees to dedicate their combined efforts towards providing volunteer time and funds, raised through specially organised activities, to these chosen charities.
Saplings are special schools for children with autism and complex needs. Since embarking on the charity partnership in January, Intel has been working closely with the Saplings school in Rathfarnham on a number of different projects and activities.
One of the key projects to be supported is the Intel Occupational Therapy (OT) room that will house state of the art equipment which is specially designed to help children achieve their maximum potential and to support their learning environment.
Groups of employees from Intel have visited the Rathfarnham based school on a number of occasions to complete a variety of different work. For example, in the past number of weeks employees have been completing mural paintings on the walls of the OT room, filling the space with bright and colorful creations. Employees have also been helping to prepare the children’s activity garden where a range of outdoor OT equipment will be provided.
Earlier this year a group of employees came together onsite in Leixlip to do a cleanup project on a ball pit from the school. Each ball was individually cleaned and sanitised in order to ensure that the pit could continue to be used by the children. So far more than 100 employees have volunteered time to support the school and over the weeks and months ahead there will be many more opportunities for them to continue to help in the preparation of the Intel OT room and to lend their support to projects such as painting a new classroom being opened at the school.
Speaking about the Intel OT room, Michael Wood, who is the Saplings Rathfarnham School Principal, said; “When the Intel Occupational Therapy room and facilities are set up and a program established, we can reach out to other children on the autism spectrum who may also be able to avail of OT services on a private basis as we pilot and test this facility”.
Intel employees also had the opportunity to support a key activity for the Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue as they helped to assemble t-shirt packs in preparation for the annual ‘Walk the Line’ fundraising event which sees people take part in a day into night trek to raise money for the mountain rescue organisation. A number of Intel employees also participated in the walk itself.
In addition to employees volunteering their time to support the charities, a number of different fundraising activities have taken place to raise funds which will be shared between both organisations at the end of the year. A Bake Sale at Intel’s Leixlip campus took place in April while employees are also being encouraged to make donations to the charities by ‘tapping for charity’ while making a purchase in the Intel canteens. In June employees will have the chance to take part in a fun color run whilst a charity cycle event will take place in September. Employees are also gearing up to take part in the first ever ‘Intel Oskars’ which is a special fundraising event in which employees will be working in teams to create 10 minute recreations of some well-known movies that will each be premiered at the Oskars event in October where they vie for a host of awards.
There have also been some remarkable individual efforts by employees to support the chosen charities. For instance, Cathal Reilly, a member of Intel’s HR organisation, raised over €1,000 through sponsorship for running the London Marathon. Another Intel employee, Des McCann, ran a league for employees to coincide with the 6 nation’s rugby tournament with all proceeds being donated to the signature charities.
Both of the Signature Charities will also benefit from Intel’s unique initiative, the Matching Grants Program, which motivates employees to engage in volunteerism by providing cash grants to the organisations where the employees volunteer their time.
About Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue
The purpose of the organisation is to provide a professional mountain rescue service for those who find themselves in need. This may include Mountain or Crag accidents or lost, overdue, or missing persons. In the last number of years the team responded to over 50 “call-outs” on average per annum. This does not include the behind the scenes work of training and committee meetings. Read more here.
About Saplings Rathfarnham
Saplings aim is to support individuals with a diagnosis of autism and their families, assisting them to achieve their full potential and participate in their family and community life through the provision of holistic, evidence based services, celebrating each individual’s dignity, uniqueness and right to an optimal education. Read more here.
Intel Ireland is proud to support these charities and the amazing work they do.
About Intel
Intel is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices.
Additional information about Intel is available at:
Web – intel.ie | Twitter – @Intel_IRL | Facebook – Intel Ireland
Media contact: Sarah Sexton | sarah.sexton@intel.com | + 353 1 606 8537
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