Through the month of October, Microsoft employees from all around the world visited Stall Catchers to accelerate Alzheimer’s research. Their annual Giving Month helps to connect driven Microsoft employees to make a positive impact on causes they care about. We also participated in the very first 24-Hour Relay. Time zone by time zone, Microsoft employees volunteered around the world for a full day… And the result is amazing: Over 500 volunteers collectively contributed to the equivalent of a month and a half of Alzheimer's data analysis in the lab!
But their contribution doesn't end there. For every hour employees volunteer, Microsoft will generously make a donation to help us keep Stall Catchers running.
For the second year in a row, Stall Catchers was part of Microsoft Giving Month, a program that supports the passion of its employees to positively impact the world. How does it work? By catching stalls, Microsoft contributors can build their personal research scores, compete on teams, and help speed up Alzheimer's research towards prevention, treatment, and cure. Throughout October, volunteers donated their time to causes they care about (such as Alzheimer's research), and for every hour donated, Microsoft matched donating time and money to nonprofits organizations (like ours!).
This year we are extra proud because Microsoft volunteers surpassed last year’s success! We hosted 12 events for Corporate Give Teams plus a kick-off session for the 24-hour International Relay. On October 18th, at midnight, we were able to connect with volunteers in Singapore and Tokyo for the Relay around noon their time. Our director, Pietro Michelucci, gave talks and guided members from all corners of Microsoft through Stall Catchers for each session. In these events, he got to meet people from engineering, technical support, legal, business, security and more.
“This is what this whole campaign is about, right? I mean, bringing people together. Look at the representation that we have. It's awesome.” - Catcher from the 24H International Relay
Our Stall Catchers community also expanded around the world! During our session at the 24-Hour International Relay, volunteers participated from Portland, Singapore, Australia, Hyderabad, South Africa, Tucson, Mumbai, Costa Rica, Beijing, Canada, Tokyo, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur! So how did it go? The collective community of MS catchers at the Relay made 7964 annotations, which translates into 54.2 hours of research or 6.8 days of work in the lab!
“We are excited to present this fun and impactful volunteering opportunity.” - Catcher from CPS CELA and MS Security+T&R CELA
This wasn’t even the biggest collection of annotations! The total contribution from volunteers who organized their own events made up the largest contribution, demonstrating the true power of working together.
“So amazing to hear all of the research and everything that's been done”.- Catcher from Corporative Give Team
Whether DIY or hosted by an HCI member, these Microsoft employees went above and beyond to organize volunteer teams made up of colleagues from their own departments. And they did it well. In total they got 39,852 annotations and the team Azure Hybrid Networking won with 5,380 annotations, congratulations!
And we know that a little competition doesn't hurt, so here is the detail of the top 10 teams.
Big thanks to all our new Catchers from Microsoft and welcome to the Stall Catchers community! We hope to see you here again soon. Every vessel analyzed (even while commuting) is a great contribution to us :)
We're grateful for your commitment and everyday we continue to discover new outcomes from October Giving Month, including some new Super Catchers! But that's a story for another article...