Before the word technology was uttered or any business was discussed, the tekSESSIONS 2009 event kicked off with a networking event that put attendees retail experience to good use. In support of the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI), attendees participated in a retail version of Amazing Race where teams were sent on scavenger hunt/shopping trip.
The shopping trip and the contest benefitted Lydia Home, a safe families program in Illinois designed as an alternative to state-run foster care to keep struggling families together. The program is a network of volunteers who open their homes to children whose parents are unable to care for them, whether because of a short-term crisis, such as hospitalization, or longer-term issues.
With a $500 budget, the teams of tekSessions teams were asked to purchase as many items as possible in under one hour. The items from the shopping list made up of holiday gifts for children in the Lydia Home program. Teams representing the sponsors of tekSESSIONS competed in the event, and team Intermec won the race.
tekServePOS is committed to supporting RetailROI, a program which was organized to raise awareness and provide real solutions the more than 400 million vulnerable children worldwide. Created under the umbrella of The Giving Back Fund, RetailROI provides grants to charities that provide "feet on the street" efforts. While initially soliciting donations from retailers, vendors and employees, the goal of RetailROI is to create programs such as "RoundUp for Orphans" at the point-of-sale, where customers can round up their transactions to the nearest dollar to support the fund, or to create custom, multi-retailer gift cards that would have a portion of the sales go to these causes.
--Andrew Gaffney
