The only catch was that it was the Lifelong AIDS Breakfast. Yes, that AIDS. The one that killed Freddie Mercury, Easy E and Ryan White. The one that generations of young adults live in fear of. The one that I’ve grown confessedly ignorant of.

Could I tolerate an hour and a half of stories about starving children in Africa whose lives are that much more terrible because they were orphaned by HIV/AIDS? Or my own Northwest neighbors, who suffer from the disease every day? The truth is, yes; this is a cause I believe in. But in 2010, I really don’t know what to do to support those affected by the disease. So I went to the event because I wanted to fill a seat, make a donation and do something.

At the event, there were stories of Seattleites who have been battling AIDS for a decade or more. But that was the also the miracle of it. It’s been more than ten years for some people! One thing that I learned is that Cobalt’s own Matt Browning, manager of technical support, sits on the Board of Directors for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance and organizes Cobalt’s AIDS Walk team. I had no idea! He’s such an unassuming guy around the office, but he’s a board member for a major cause in Seattle.

Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna also spoke, offering up some statistics and figures. He quoted Gandhi, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” He added that those of us who attend Charity Breakfast Events like this one should adopt the phrase, “Lead the change that you want to see.”

During the event, the foundation awarded the annual Ned Behnke Award for the researcher who provided the most benefit to finding a cure. The recipient, Dr. King Holmes, spoke about advances in AIDS research that are not getting the kind of attention they should.

Current Lifelong AIDS Alliance Chair Maurice Jones also took the podium, making sure to let us know that 86 cents of every dollar donated to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance goes directly to their clients. Truly, this is a rare chance to maximize direct help.

The event included a video presentation that covered some of the current work and goals of the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. One patient featured in the video, Krystal, has had this disease since 1991. I remembered that AIDS was a death sentence back then, but here is Krystal, a 19-year survivor, who lives an active and contributing lifestyle.

That’s what this is ultimately about. It’s not just about statistics versus cures and success stories. This is about “quality of life” and being able to contribute to someone’s life in a meaningful way, whether it’s a full day of work, delivering donated food or just the simple act of giving someone an hour of your time.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance is giving a better quality of life to individuals in a variety of ways every single day. I was humbled by the opportunity to help this organization advance that cause and that Cobalt would give me the chance to have that opportunity.

Donate to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

Deb Thogersen
Account Advocate
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive

Normally Cobalt focuses on local charities for giving, but in January events took a different turn. Everyone at Cobalt has seen, along with the rest of the world, the devastation in Haiti. On January 13th, Cobalt CEO John Holt announced that Cobalt would be making a donation of $2,500 to the Red Cross specifically for the Haiti relief efforts.

“It is unbelievable that such an awful thing has happened to a population that already lives in such difficult conditions,” said Holt, followed by an offer to match employee donations up to an additional $2,500.

The response was immediate. By January 15th, two days after the initial announcement, Cobalt increased the donation match amount to $5,000. One week later, on the 22nd, Holt sent a follow-up announcement: “The Cobalt community has been very supportive. Thank you. The tragedy is still building and the restoration efforts will be long and tortuous.” Cobalt employees had already “blown away” both initial donation targets and the new match amount was set at $10,000.

As of January 26th, Cobalt employees have also surpassed the $10,000 goal. Included in that amount is one employee who alone contributed $1,000 and another whose children contributed a jar full of coins collected over time from their allowance.

This means that Cobalt and Cobalt employees will together be making donations of over $22,500 to the relief efforts in Haiti. From an effort that started with modest goals, it has grown as the need has grown.

Cobalt chose to give to the Red Cross in this case because they are reputable; and more importantly, they have the scale to deal with a large disaster. We also encourage any efforts for the people of Haiti. In the words of CEO John Holt, whatever you can do, “the important thing is to give.”

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
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When describing his experiences with the Paralympics, longtime Cobalt employee Mark Bathum used these words to describe his fellow athletes and their attitude toward the endeavor.  He finds the idea of giving up a piece of your own life to benefit the lives of others an inspiring and humbling act.

Cobalt believes the same thing, a belief that manifests itself in many ways. For the next few months, Cobalt is sponsoring two employees, Mark Bathum and Shane McSimov, in their efforts to do good.

Mark will be racing for the U.S. Paralympics ski racing team, a goal he has had for 20 years and started seriously trying for in 2008. In 2010 in Vancouver, he will achieve that dream, but only after a lot of hard work and arduous training. Mark raced all last season to see how it would feel to do it. This year he’ll still be working, though remotely, while ramping up his ski training schedule in preparation for the big event. Cobalt will be following his efforts closely and supporting him in his bid!

Shane McSimov, the second Cobalt sponsored employee, is organizing his own charity event in a very different way: a charity ping-pong game. Shane has challenged Scott Harrison, the founder of Charity Water, to a $5,000 ping-pong match in New York City with the money going to build a well for a community that needs fresh water.

As Shane says, “A ping pong match in New York City can save lives overseas and give clean drinking water to an entire community for 20 years. That’s a game worth playing.”

The event will take place in early 2010 and will be available live on Ustream.com.

We’ll be writing more about Mark and Shane over the next few months. Until then, you can keep updated on Mark’s progress on his website at markbathum.com; and you can donate to Shane’s ping-pong game here.

Cobalt is proud of both Shane and Mark for their efforts to give back to the world. At Cobalt, we work hard and know that when it comes to what really matters, “it’s just what you do.”

The Cobalt Group
www.cobalt.com
www.twitter.com/CobaltMarketing
www.youtube.com/cobaltlive