PayPal staff hack for charity

STAFF from PayPal were at Castleknock Hotel earlier this month to take part in a challenge to create and develop digital resources and systems for Irish charities over a 24-hour period.

Opportunity Hack involved employees from various disciplines including coding, software development, customer support, risk and compliance, being tasked with working with the charities to develop solutions for their pressing digital needs.

A judging panel consisting of various members of the PayPal team – including Maeve Dorman, Vice President of Merchant Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Anthony Rafferty, Director of Merchant Services, as well as Guy Thompson, General Manager of the Castleknock Hotel and President of Fingal Dublin Chamber of Commerce – had the difficult task of choosing the best projects.

The team behind Chifundo, a charity dedicated to the education of underprivileged children in the villages of Zomba in Malawi, claimed the number one spot.

The PayPal techies helped create an online shop for the organisation to sell Malawi crafts brought back to Ireland by volunteers, the proceeds of which will be donated directly to the school. 

Second place went to Pieta House which helps those in suicidal distress. It was provided with an app allowing community centres to streamline the registration and payment system for its Darkness Into Light event, thus saving the charity 5,000 volunteer hours, and eliminating the handling of over €1.5m in cash.

Junior Achievement Ireland, an organisation that encourages and supports young people to remain in education, and Outreach Moldova, which is dedicated to protecting the rights of vulnerable children in the Republic of Moldova, took joint third.

Junior Achievement Ireland collaborated with PayPal to develop an integrated CRM system to digitise materials used in the classroom. Outreach Moldova’s collaboration resulted in a new online ticketing service to make it easier for people to purchase tickets for its dinner and lunch events.

Speaking at the event, Maeve Dorman said PayPal is committed to giving back to the local community where it does business.

“It’s been fantastic to see our team joining forces with local charities to tackle their digital challenges, and come up with solutions,” she said.

“It is a tremendous event for all involved. Not only do the charities benefit but PayPal teammates get a great sense of achievement.”

Guy Thompson said Castleknock Hotel was honoured to be the partner hotel for PayPal’s Opportunity Hack 2.0.

“As President of the Fingal Dublin Chamber of Commerce, we strongly encourage CSR initiatives amongst our members and PayPal is leading the way, providing much needed expertise, support, enthusiasm and a genuine passion for helping the community,” he added.

Director of Funding and Advocacy at Pieta House, Kieran Brady, was delighted with the app created for the charity during Opportunity Hack 2.0.

“It streamlines the registration and payment processes, saving us countless hours, and protects both staff and volunteers by reducing cash handling,” he said.

“It will also help us adhere to tightening data protection legislation and maintain transparency, which is so important to us in remaining accountable to the many people who support us in doing our work.

“We are extremely grateful to the PayPal team for lending us their time and expertise for this project.”