Every bowler knows that thre fashion coats online e strikes in a row is called a "turkey," but a web hosting company named "FatCow" takes its animal metaphors seriously. Each year around Thanksgiving time, FatCow's employees, affectionately known as the "Moo Crew," participate in a bowling event that raises money for its local Food Bank. And at $10/strike, that can buy a lot of turkeys.
In fact, FatCow, a leading provider of web hosting, domain registration and related marketing services, puts on a series of events each year during the holidays, designed not only to foster camaraderie among the Moo Crew, but also to give something back to their community.
"What's always separated FatCow from other places," said Paul Bukhovko, FatCow's Marketing Manager, "is the people – our staff, our customers, and our neighbors and community. That's why our customer support team is consistently rated one of the best in the industry; that's why we went 'green' by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates to offset our energy use; and that's why our employee events focus on both fun and doing something for others."
Every year, the week before Thanksgiving, the company turns its lunch room into a multi-lane bowling alley, and employees take turns seeing how many pins they can knock down. And, for the second year in a row, FatCow pledged to donate $10 to the Greater Boston Food Bank for every strike that was thrown.
"It's always a fun event for our staff," said Bukhovko, "and fortunately, we've got some very good bowlers here! I think we bowled about 81 strikes, including the playoffs. We then rounded up to donate $1,000 to the Greater Boston Food Bank." Playoffs? "Oh, yes," Bukhovko responded with a smile. "It does get competitive towards the end. I won't say who won, but I will say that he now has bragging rights for the next 12 months."
Bowling isn't FatCow's only holiday event, however. At the yearly company holiday party, employees participate in a "Yankee Swap." In addition to getting gifts for each other, staff members also bring in Coats for Kids, a program run by Anton's Cleaners in Eastern Mass., and Toys for Tots, the charity run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. And if that weren't enough, FatCow plans to donate $10 to the Pine Street Inn, a Boston-based homeless shelter, for each coat and toy donated by one of its employees.
"We're aiming for another $1,000 donation to another great local charity, this time to the Pine Street Inn," said Bukhovko. "And our 'Moo Crew' really gets into the drive for coats and toys. Everyone knows about the Marines' great Toys for Tots program. Plus, Anton's Cleaners does a lot of good work locally with their Coats for Kids program."
About FatCow
FatCow provides shared web hosting solutions for individuals and small to medium sized businesses looking for an affordable, reliable web hosting option. FatCow pioneered the "one plan one price" philosophy when it began offering its signature all-in-one website hosting solution, The FatCow, back in 1998. FatCow is not affiliated with the charities to which it donates money or goods. (http://fatcow.com)
About the Greater Boston Food Bank
The Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and one of the largest food banks in the country, distributing more than 34 million pounds of food and grocery products annually to a network of nearly 600 member hunger-relief agencies. (http://gbfb.org)
About the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program
The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. (http://toysfortots.org)
About Anton's Cleaners' Coats for Kids
The mission of Coats for Kids is simple – anyone in need of a coat will have one. Since the program began in 1994, Anton's Cleaners, a clothing care company with 43 store locations in Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, has collected, cleaned free of charge and distributed over 620,000 gently worn winter coats to men, women and children who would otherwise be without one. (http://antons.com/cfk/)
About Pine Street Inn
Founded in 1969, Pine Street Inn serves more than 1,300 homeless individuals daily and 10,000 annually, providing the full spectrum of services to help men and women reach their highest level of independence and get back to a place they can call home. (http://pinestreetinn.org)
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