All of us at Market Street Talent share a commitment to the betterment of our community: broadly, the IT industry from Boston, MA to Portland, ME and beyond; more specifically, our hometown of Portsmouth, NH. We’ve always done our best as a company to find ways to give back and lend a hand where we can. Last year, we decided it was time to create an official initiative to dedicate resources to charitable groups who are doing good for those around us. Here’s a little bit of info about two of the local organizations we’re currently supporting.
New Heights (Portsmouth, NH)
If you’ve attended any of our Women in Tech events, you’ve probably met Wayne Moulton (and the New Heights programmable robot!). Wayne is the STEAM Program Coordinator at New Heights, and he’s doing amazing work encouraging kids across the seacoast to get involved in robotics and programming, preparing them for the careers of the future. Students in 3rd grade through high school can sign up for age-appropriate robotics competition teams like FIRST LEGO League and Destination Imagination, both during and after school. There are also summer opportunities for kids to get involved in.
Market Street Talent has been a proud sponsor of the New Heights girls’ robotics team for a couple of years now, and some of our team members have gone to the New Heights campus to act as mock judges when it’s time for the teams to prepare for competitions and they need to practice their presentations. It’s a great chance for us to get out of the office, give of our time and check out genuinely cool projects being created by kids right here in our community.
New Heights has a variety of awesome programs, both on site and off, that fall outside their STEAM initiative as well. Popular activities include Climbing Clubs, Ski and Snowboard Clubs, Makerspace Week, and Adventure Week trips. All of their programs offer kids in our community the opportunity to make new friends, learn new skills, and uncover strengths and interests they may otherwise not have known were there.
Gather (Portsmouth, NH)
Food insecurity is one of the biggest problems facing today’s world, and the US is no exception. Gather’s mission is to provide healthy, nutritious food to those in our greater seacoast community who face hunger. Their Pantry Market, located in Portsmouth, offers an opportunity for individuals and families to come shop for fresh produce, nutritious packaged goods, fresh baked goods, and even meals prepared from scratch.
90 cents per dollar donated to Gather goes directly toward local hunger relief on the seacoast, including Portsmouth, Rye, Seabrook, Stratham, Hampton Falls, Hampton, Greenland, New Castle, Newington, North Hampton, and Kittery, Maine. Each year around the holidays, our team runs a food drive and collects items for donation to the Pantry Market. We also have team members who volunteer during the summer at the Meals 4 Kids program, which works alongside End 68 Hours of Hunger to bridge the gap normally filled by school lunch programs for children struggling with food insecurity.
This past December, the MST team went onsite to Gather and spent the morning sorting food donations for distribution. We had a great time, learned a lot about the food donation process (one key takeaway: donate personal care items like diapers and toilet paper!) and practiced our teamwork skills.
In addition to the volunteer efforts we participate in as a group, we encourage individual team members to use charitable PTO for volunteer causes that are important to them. We’re fortunate to have a team of people who are passionate about giving back to their community, and hope we can inspire you to find a way to get involved in yours too. Every little bit helps!
How do you get involved in your community, whether through volunteering, donations or other avenues? Let us know on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
