NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- When Dave Jorgensen and Joe Mangan signed up to participate in a toy drive to help nuns deliver toys to underprivileged children in 2008, they didn't get many donations from the empty box they set out in front of their office.
So they decided to get creative.
"Joe came up with the idea to start a competition," Jorgensen said. "Why don't we race up and down the stairs? Everyone around the office started betting. We were working for Expedia at the time and we ended up with 40 different teams running up and down the stairs in our building. We had VPs and some of the big dogs crushing the stairs and we raised a ton of money and filled those toy bins."
That led to the pair wondering if they could take it outside the Expedia building and maybe get some other companies in on the challenge.
"We wanted ALL of the money we raised to go to the charities, so we decided to do the web site framework, hosting and licensing for free. That way every donation goes straight to the charity."
This year marks the fifth year for Stairing is Caring being held in Seattle at T-Mobile Park and the 2019 event already has more than 40 teams signed up.
The competition pairs teams of two people who run stairs in the ballpark relay style for 45 minutes. But the real fun comes in the form of fun team names, costumes and donors guessing how many stairs their team of choice will accomplish.
"It's exercise for a good cause," he said. "We touch none of the money. One hundred percent goes to the charity. We donate our time for set-up, gifts, marketing and the other things it takes to get the event off the ground."
Last year, the Stairing is Caring event raised $32,000 for Cancer Care Alliance and that total doesn't include companies who matched donations, which isn't tracked. This year's beneficiary is Childhaven, a safe and caring place for babies, toddlers and preschoolers in King County in Seattle.
"We encourage teams from any local company to come out," Mangan said. "We have everyone from big-name companies like Microsoft and Expedia to our local dentists Fisher Distinctive Dentistry. No company is too small. You only need two people. We want everyone to come out and raise money for their community."
But Stairing is Caring isn't just one event in Seattle. The website and competition framework is a free tool that anyone can use to host a similar event anywhere in the world. It works with any charity in any venue. "All you need is a set of stairs and some people who care," Jorgensen said.
Ricardo Anders, founder of Level60 Consulting, said he is a huge supporter of not only Jorgensen's event in Seattle, but of the overall platform that can be used for charity events anywhere.
"We are looking forward to organizing a Stairing is Caring event in Nashville in 2020," Anders said. "We work with several wonderful charities and would love to take what Dave has already started in Seattle and bring it to Nashville."
If you would like to support Jorgensen's team (99 Problems, But a Stair Ain't One), you can visit this link https://www.stairingiscaring.org/team/154 to make a donation. If you are in and around the Seattle area, it's not too late to form a team and start raising money for the event on November 2 at T-Mobile Park.
Visit https://www.stairingiscaring.org to register your team or get more information on the Seattle event and learn how to host a Stairing is Caring event in your city.
ABOUT DAVE JORGENSEN
Dave Jorgensen is a partner and Solutions Architect with Level60 Consulting. He architects the company's enterprise solutions with deep and broad functional and technical knowledge of software development, data management, and sensitivity to big-picture business needs. He is passionate about leveraging large data sets to create actionable insights and appreciates how data-at-scale can energize communications, efficiency, monetization, and overall competitive success. Recognized as a thought leader in this space; entrusted to serve as a spokesman at many industry conferences, he serves as a mentor and instructor and has authored four books on framework development.
ABOUT LEVEL60 CONSULTING
Level60 Consulting is a strategic consulting and services firm empowering businesses to make smarter decisions through analytics. Our team develops innovative products and solutions by aligning strategic and tactical decision-makers across organizations, and has worked with Fortune 500 clients in hospitality, retail, insurance, manufacturing, finance, and healthcare. We create bespoke technology solutions addressing business needs with best-in-class tech including big data, machine learning, agile software development, predictive analytics, and cloud platforms. Our global team consists of experts in revenue management, data science, software engineering, big data, marketing, strategy, and UX design, we deliver purpose-built solutions to meet our clients' business needs. For more information, please visit https://level60consulting.com.
Photo caption:
From left: Dave Jorgensen and Paolo Ciccu from the "99 Problems But a Stair Ain't One" team and participant David Visser after a recent Stairing is Caring event.
SOURCE Level60 Consulting
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