This year the Department of Executive Services’ (DES) Financial Management Section (FMS) facilitated a department wide “Pledge for Pie” event. FMS ambassadors sought out volunteers throughout the department that were willing to get pied for charity. In total, we were able to sweet talk 15 volunteers into participating in our event, to include DES’s Deputy Director, Tom Koney. Volunteers were given the opportunity to select the non-profit they wanted to support and set the fundraising goal that needed to be met to earn a pie to the face.

Employees across the department scrambled to pitch in and help their leaders and colleagues get pied for charity. To assist in helping our volunteers achieve their fundraising goals we tried to promote payroll and time donations (pledges) by providing DES employees all four donation options offered through the Employee Giving Program. Employees could pledge their payroll, time, check, or cash donations towards a volunteer’s selected non-profit organization assisting in reaching the fundraising goal(s). We provided incentive for charitable giving by allowing the top donor for each volunteer to be the person to pie the volunteer they pledged towards.

The event was held on November 10^th and provided much needed laughter and fun, all while raising a total of $16,133 for 14 non-profits! Volunteers were provided an opportunity to promote their non-profit one last time before being pied by their top donor. Our brave volunteers included: Tom Koney, Ken Guy, Eunjoo Greenhouse, Carmel Call, Chrissy Russillo, Julie Dunn, Joan Kelly, Roy Dodman, Rena Jackson, Christy Trautman, Sandy Hanks, Lynn Mckiernan Ngari, Sabrina Zupan, Megan Rulien, and Chris Franco.

The “Pledge for Pie” event was organized by FMS’s Megan Rulien, Minna Elo, and Chris Franco. Next year we aim to grow the event by inviting King County Council members and our Executive Office with a goal of raising over $25,000 for charity. Stay tuned next year for the opportunity to help others in need and be a part of the fun!