Deloitte Impact Day

On Friday the 16th of November two groups of Deloitte staffers visited the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) to volunteer as part of Deloitte’s Annual Impact Day. Each year Deloitte employees mobilise around the country to provide charities with an extra helping hand.

This year the ASRC was fortunate to have teams from Deloitte in our Harvest of Hope garden, Community Meals kitchen and at the ASRC Foodbank in Footscray.

The Harvest of Hope Market Garden is an urban farming initiative providing fresh produce to the ASRC Foodbank and Community Meals programs. In peak harvest time, the garden produces up to 40 crates of fresh produce for the ASRC each week. The team of volunteers from Deloitte weeded Chilli beds and prepared a new garden bed, ready for sowing. While getting their hands dirty in our community garden the group got to know more about the ASRC and its many programs.

Andrew, a Deloitte staff member who spent the day volunteering in our harvest of hope garden reflected on his day. “It was a great opportunity to get outside and see what opportunities are available to help the community and make small steps to address big problems.”

Another Deloitte employee, Amy spoke of her day volunteering in the ASRC’s Foodbank:

“During impact day myself and my small team assisted in the Foodbank, which was a great experience and impacted me in ways I didn’t expect it to. It was incredibly humbling to see ASRC members come through, watch them pick out food and essential items, and see the ASRC volunteers assisting them with explanations of what they could take and what some items could be used for. Overall my day at the ASRC extended what I now know was a limited knowledge of issues facing Asylum Seekers & Refugees, from the basic day-to-day issues like their inability to engage in work, find adequate housing and put food on the table, right through to the wider legal and humanitarian issues. I’ve not stopped sharing my experience with whoever will listen, hoping to make a dent in the negative narratives that surround Asylum Seekers, Refugees and immigrants coming to Australia. I hope that through sharing, more people will volunteer and Deloitte can have a long-term and positive partnership with the ASRC.”

Deloitte has recently included the ASRC in its workplace giving program, allowing staff to make a pre-tax donation directly through their employer.
If you’re interested in workplace giving for yourself or your organisation you can find out more here.