It doesn’t take much to give back

Who wouldn’t like to have fun in a playground game where the playground looks like this?

This week I had the opportunity to participate in a community event courtesy of the folks at the Salesforce.com foundation and my team at Desk.com. In the span of half a day (and with the help of the folks at Playworks, we transformed a dull-looking outdoor playground into a vibrant place where kids can have fun.

Yep, you say – kids can have fun anywhere – and that’s true. Yet there’s something different about an environment where school kids see grownups kneeling on the blacktop, taking the time to make their playground cool, and having fun doing it. For us, this was just a day in the sun having a good time where we learned more about our teammates and did some painting.

And it was a bit more too, because when the staff of the school walked by and said “Thank you – this looks great” and the kids ran by, stopped, and said “Thank you!” we realized we were doing something more than just painting. We were giving a little bit of ourselves to this school, and the people who work and go to school there every day noticed and appreciated our effort.

So thank you to the team, the foundation, and to the facilitators. I feel grateful for being able to make this playground a bit more colorful. It’s a great reminder to all of us to spend more of our time engaging offline with real people in person as well as sharing our thoughts, photos, and ideas online.