City employees raise $500,000 for charity

As part of the city’s annual charitable giving campaign, city employees raised about $500,000 for charities. The fundraising was announced yesterday, aka Giving Tuesday, and is the result of a month-long effort focused on the theme “City of Austin Employees Care.” Making that theme a reality were more than 1,200 employees who participated in that campaign as well as in two focused campaigns that raised $9,500 for efforts surrounding the 2015 Halloween floods and $16,600 for Bastrop fire relief. In a statement to the press, City Manager Marc Ott said, “Part of being best managed is showing that employees care about their community and making the world a better place. Our workforce year after year shows its generosity and giving spirit, and I’m proud to be a part of this organization.” Indeed, according to that same press release, city employees have raised more than $12 million for charity in more than two decades of charitable campaigns.