How are your programs celebrating the holidays safely during this time? Please share your ideas on this thread!
At OVS, we're working on safe, virtual ideas. One of them is "The OVS Elves." For 10 days, all staff will receive an email in the morning from the OVS Elves prompting a good or kind deed. These can be internally for the agency, within their own homes or communities, or even by visiting the website FreeRice and doing some triva benefitting the World Food Programme. Some examples of what we may encourage are:
Going analogue for an evening: as we're all zoomed out from working and schooling remote, turn off devices and spend an evening connecting with family (or even just yourself!) by having a game night, reading a book, or chatting with a friend
Buying a coffee for the person behind you in the drivethrough
Giving a coworker a compliment
#holiday #celebrations #safelycelebrating #stayingconnected #COVID #COVID19
Thank you for these great ideas!
I have shared some of them with CVSVC staff and interns.
We need positivity more than ever in these stressful times.
We just wrapped up a truly wonderful celebration of Halloween among our team. I started by "Boo-ing" two of my colleagues, and then challenged them to each "Boo" two more colleagues, and so forth and so on until everyone was "Boo-ed" (see attached).
It created a truly fun and supportive vibe in our office (I ended up with a giant inflatable Flamingo in my office wearing a witches hat!). We also had a great virtual Halloween celebration over lunch last Friday - complete with a costume contest, pumpkin decorating contest, and Halloween Bingo.
For November we are focusing on giving thanks and expressing gratitude. I'm printing off a tree to put on everyone's office door, and am providing all colleagues with leaves. On the leaf, they will write something that they admire or appreciate about their colleague, and put it on their tree. So at the end of the month, colleagues will each have a tree filled with leaves which represent things that their team members admire about them.
Plans for December are still unfolding, but we certainly will not be able to do what we traditionally do (a holiday luncheon and staff gift exchange). I am confident that we'll figure out a way to celebrate safely, and will happily share any plans here!