Take A Break

“Why should we?”

That’s not a question we have heard from potential participants, but, still, we felt we should prepare ourselves just in case. Usually, when we’re highlighting why groups should join in, we think the better question is, “why shouldn’t you?!?!” We talk to groups about how it’s really cost efficient way to give back! During some of our events we’ve noticed there was approximately a $0.30 cost per card expense and that will likely decline over time since you won’t have to buy markers and/or scissors each time. Very efficient. Then we can highlight how it’s a ton of fun. It’s not often that people get to revert back to drawing cartoon characters and searching through their cell phones to find the hottest jokes and/or trying to recall if the Minions have names.

But this time, we want to show some facts that are outside of our statistics and opinions. Research shows that having employees and/or students doing relaxing things throughout the day (e.g. making fun cards with classmates and/or coworkers) can increase productivity. First, while browsing the internet, we found on article on Health.com that highlights that taking these types of fun breaks can increase productivity. The article quotes that these, “breaks are particularly re-energizing if workers spend the time doing something they enjoy.” Something they enjoy—we’re bias, but we think using glitter pens to impact kids across the globe is a perfect fit! In addition, we found another article in the Huffington Post that highlights similar findings, and an Atlantic article that says exactly how long those breaks should be. Taking time to step aside and make a creative card could be a perfect fit.

Now we’ve shown some factors about how creativity and taking breaks from the computer are a good fit, but we also want to show some background on why Cardz for Kidz! is a good fit directly. Once again, while doing some research we learned that these days employee turnover has been slightly increasing. 

CompData Surveys

In addition, as quoted by a post on TinyPulse, 1 in 4 employees would be willing to leave their current company for simply a 10% raise. One way to improve loyalty is to improve employee morale and engagement. When researching some of the best ways to do that we googled employee engagement and found a story on Entrepreneur.com - this highlights the 10 best ways to increase employee engagement. Please understand we didn’t ask them to include it, but if you check out the list, number nine is volunteer together! One example, making cards for disheartened children! 😊 Then again if we check out this blog post on JustWorks we see that of the top 10 ways to improve employee morale, at least six were directly related to group events;  volunteering, themed potlucks, decorating contests, team swag, include families (bring a child to work day), and change the way you operate (celebrate accomplishments – Top 10).

In summary, hopefully, after reading this post, it’ll be a bit harder for people to answer our question, “Why not?” Not only is it efficient and fun to put together an event, but there’s data that shows it’s very rewarding. Therefore, when your group make cards it could range from setting aside a couple hours and getting everyone to work together OR simply having art supplies around so people can slip away from their desk whenever they need to TAKE A BREAK - based on the research, sounds like either way should work!

#takeabreak #upliftingspirits

To see more pictures and stories, please check out our website www.cardzforkidz.org, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, visit our Google+ or LinkedIn page! Also, check out some of our videos on YouTube!