Samantha Z.

Program Manager, Toast.org

It’s Toast.org’s fourth annual Season of Giving! Season of Giving is a month-long initiative that brings the strength of Toast’s people, products, and philanthropy together to support organizations addressing food insecurity in the communities where we work and live, around the globe. To learn more about this incredible campaign, we caught up with Samantha Z., Program Manager, Toast.org. 

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I started at Toast in December  2019, working within Customer Success and then transitioning to the Education team–  enterprise training specifically. Throughout my five years at Toast I was always involved in Toast.org and loved attending events, especially around Season of Giving. I remember one November I volunteered with Toast.org and helped hand out Thanksgiving dinners–  turkeys included–  to those in need. The happiness and gratitude on each person's face is something that I will always keep with me. From volunteering at events in Boston to becoming the local committee chair once I moved to Buffalo, New York, I have always held Toast.org close to my heart. I am so thankful to work at a company that allows me to help others. This past year, an opportunity opened up to join the Toast.org team full time, and I knew it was the right match for me!

Since joining the Toast.org team in September, it’s been a remarkable experience seeing what goes into making Season of Giving happen for all Toasters to enjoy and experience. Season of Giving is a time of year when we amplify our focus on food insecurity and nutrition security around the world. Hunger is a global issue with nearly 30% of the world’s population affected by moderate or extreme food insecurity. In our local communities and beyond, access to nutritious food is critical to hope and opportunity.

Toast.org’s efforts reach all around the world! Above, see members of the UK team volunteering with Toast.org. 

The events during Season of Giving allow us to bring the mission of Toast.org— – to enrich the food experience for all— – to communities around the world, and to bring Toasters together to connect, collaborate, and foster relationships across teams. 

During Season of Giving we offer many ways for Toasters to get involved and carry out our mission:

• Nominating a peer for an inaugural Toast.org Impact Award (learn more below!)
• Volunteering with their local Toast.org committee, or volunteering virtually through organizations in their area
• Voting for organizations to help us direct $500,000 in grants
• Rescuing excess food  
• Joining an educational webinar to learn about our partnership with Food Rescue US
• Donating to important causes at local Toast restaurants through Toast Fundraising
• Using $25 in donation rewards provided by Toast.org to support a cause of their choice
• Earning $10 per hour volunteered in November to donate in Benevity for a cause meaningful to them
• Purchasing goods from our global virtual food drive directed to local food banks in their communities or global organizations that need it most
• Educating the children (or croutons as we like to call them) in their lives by ordering a Food Insecurity Impact Kit
• Using the matching gifts program to match donations of up to $1,000/€1,000

I have absolutely loved working with each of the local committee chairs and seeing the shared passion each of them embody. Local committee chairs are a group of Toasters who work to organize volunteer opportunities within their own communities. This is a wonderful way to keep Toasters connected in our hybrid-working environment, regardless of their locations. Helping the local committee chairs to plan volunteer events, create hometown grant ballots, and join the global virtual food drive has made my role as the program manager so special this Season of Giving. It has been great to see the creativity each local chair has for volunteer event ideas and the overall drive to do good and help their community is inspiring. 

This year we also worked with Noelle H., Senior Manager, Employer Brand, to bring to life her idea of in office activities with Blessings in a Backpack. Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. We held events in our Omaha, Chicago and Boston offices working together to pack 1,500 bags for kids. This event brought together 95 Toasters, working alongside our Toast Parents and Toast Mamas, Toast.org, and the Workplace Experience teams to help ensure children have enough to eat on the weekends.

This year, we’re excited to introduce the inaugural Toast.org Impact Awards as part of our Season of Giving. This new annual program celebrates Toasters who go above and beyond in supporting Toast.org’s impact pillars: food, community, and environment. There are four award categories– three for individual Toasters and one for a team. The winners will be announced in December during a company-wide meeting, so that we can all celebrate their accomplishments. Prizes include a special Toast.org gift and a donation in the winners name of $2,500 to an organization of their choice.

This Season of Giving our group of almost 100 Local Committee Chairs have worked hard to organize roughly 70 events in 50 communities around the globe, resulting in opportunities for both in-person and remote volunteering. I had the opportunity to do a food rescue with my sister and two nieces, plan and participate in our first skills-based volunteer event in Boston, and volunteer at a local organization in Buffalo. Each event was a reminder of why I am so proud to be part of this team of changemakers.

Each day I work to be a Toast.org cheerleader and culture carrier for the amazing opportunities Season of Giving has to offer not only Toast employees but the communities around each of them. I am so thankful to be part of the team that helps make change happen.