Here at Savas, we love April because it’s National Volunteer Month.  Volunteering is important to us, and we love that there is an entire month dedicated to recognizing the importance of serving the people and the places around us.  One small way Savas Labs encourages our employees to become involved in charitable activities is by providing one paid community service day for all full-time employees. 💚

May this newsletter encourage you to get involved in your community this upcoming month. 🌏

🎟️ Webinar Announcement - Leveraging Custom Applications to Drive Growth

We are so excited to announce our very first webinar featuring our client Maurice Ferrell from the UNC School of Government. Join us on May 18th as Maurice sits alongside our senior-level developer Maddy Closs and senior project manager Taylor Tice to discuss what it took to custom develop a book importer for the University of North Carolina. We hope to see you there!

Register for the webinar here →

🌟 The more you know — 

Find the Best Volunteer Opportunities Near You

Wanting to volunteer but not sure where to begin? VolunteerMatch is an online portal for people to find local non-profits to volunteer with. 

Oxytocin Release Increases With Age and Is Associated With Life Satisfaction and Prosocial Behaviors

Is there a correlation between performing charitable acts and an increased level of happiness? This new scientific study goes on to prove that this could be the case.  

Zak PJ + Curry B, Owen T + Barraza JA, Frontiers

Helping Others Enhances Graduate Student Wellness and Mental Health

Find out how Nature Biotechnology's tutoring program improved students' mental health and wellness during the pandemic. 

Tracey O. Hermanstyne + Lauren Johnson + Kristine M. Wylie + James B. Skeat, Nature Biotechnology

📣 Client shoutout — New York Cares

This month’s client shoutout goes to our friends at New York Cares! Founded in 1987, New York Cares is committed to meeting the pressing needs of their city by engaging caring New Yorkers in volunteer service. As a seasoned nonprofit organization with over 33 years of experience managing volunteers, they continue to inspire similar organizations across the country. Stay tuned for exciting updates regarding our work with them!

More about New York Cares →

💻 Meet the team — Ben

Shoutout to our fearless leader, Ben, who used his Savas Community Service Day this past Monday! 

Ben helped create  ‘World’s Greatest Scholarship in the Universe,’ which is awarded each year to high school seniors at Manteo and First Flight High Schools. It's the greatest scholarship in the history of the world, as it rewards only the most awesome, quirky, funny, interesting, and intriguing of high school seniors. To apply, all the students have to do is share what they are passionate about in the most creative way possible. 

This year's winner’s submissions included:

• A cake that looked like a house
• A Google slides presentation about her passion for fashion (this student also gave her sister a makeover)
• Wrote a piece about (and showed) the custom paint/art on the walls of her room
• Wrote a fairytale about her and her future
• An art piece of empowering women/body positive art

Thanks for being such a positive influence on the team, Ben - we appreciate you!

More about The World’s Greatest Scholarship in the Universe →

🎉 And now, a GIF —

Let's all be a little nicer to one another! 

 Closing thoughts —

These days there are so many different ways to stay connected with your favorite companies. So we invite you to follow our social media channels (linked below) for the most up-to-date happenings at Savas Labs.

Thanks for reading!