Retail Orphan Initiative raises more than $285,000 at virtual SuperFriday event
A last-minute shift to a virtual format didn’t stop an organization committed to helping orphans and vulnerable children from pulling off a successful fundraising event.
The Retail Orphan Initiative raised more than $285,000 from its virtual SuperFriday event, which was held at the end of January. The event, usually provided via a live format the weekend of the NRF’s Big Show, had to move at the last minute to all virtual due to the rise in Omicron cases. It was the 13th consecutive year the charity held its January fundraising event.
“We are so thankful to the sponsors and attendees for hanging in there with all of the last-minute changes,” said Greg Buzek, president of RetailROI. “Not only did our sponsors continue their full support, but we were also able to expand the reach of the charity to many more people than would have been able to attend live. For this we are tremendously grateful.”
Retired FBI special agent of cyber division, Scott Augenbaum, led off the event, and spoke about how to keep companies and families safe from the latest ransomware techniques. In other content, The Vitamin Shoppe COO Andrew Laudato gave a presentation on how to foster innovation in companies.
In addition, the event included charity updates and examples of company involvement. Among the highlights was an overview of the success of the JEDI program (Jamaican Entrepreneurs Delivering Innovation), where The Parker Avery Group worked with RetailROI and the Fergus Simpson Foundation to provide a 6-week training course for students and young adults that culminated in a “Shark Tank-like” competition for new business ideas. Parker Avery then decided to seed-fund six new businesses in Chapelton, Jamaica with hopes of jump-starting economic opportunity and job creation in the region.
Sponsors for the virtual SuperFriday event included First Insight, Salesforce, Verizon, The Parker Avery Group, Intel, Aptos, Ring Central, C-CORE Consulting Group, Zebra/Reflexis, Vmware, HP Inc, Amazon Web Services, UKG, Itasca Retail, EnVista, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Lucidworks, RSM and IHL Group.
Thanks to a generous donation from First Insight for 2022 to cover all administrative expenses, 100% of all donations and sponsorships for the year to RetailROI will go to charitable grants to help the children. Since its inception, the proceeds from RetailROI events have helped more than 252,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in the United States and 26 other countries.
RetailROI is a grassroots charity of people in the retail industry that have come together to provide real solutions to help the more than 400 million orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide. Co-founded with the late Paul Singer (former CIO of Target), RetailROI aims to 1) raise awareness to the needs 2) leverage our skills and networks to make a tangible difference and 3) provide leadership and funding in the areas of clean water, education, computer training, life skills, entrepreneurship, and basic care by partnering with highly efficient charities where we can double, triple or quadruple impact.
For more information visit https://www.retailroi.org.