Financial News

Daffodil Day 2016 launches with kids coding class

By Business & Finance
05 February 2016
daffodil John Morgan

At its three Irish campuses in Cork, Dublin and Limerick, Dell launched Daffodil Day 2016 by hosting a MegaDojo for local children.

Delivered in partnership with CoderDojo, the MegaDojo facilitated 100 students in learning how to ‘code a daffodil’.

Continuing the theme of helping young people support the campaign, Dell developed an app which facilitates people in donating on the go and tracking down their nearest daffodil seller.

Technical specialists from Dell fully updated the app in advance of the campaign this year.

Other skills supplied to the campaign include marketing and social media assistance, while other team members provided support with merchandise preparation.

15,000 employee hours have been donated to the campaign, helping to raise €308,902 through some 110+ fundraisers.

Denis Lucey, vice president, Dell Support and Deployment Services, said: “We’re proud of what we’ve been able to achieve over the past five years of our partnership on Daffodil Day, and are looking forward to continuing that legacy on March 11th.

Each year we’ve added a new element to our support – from the Daffodil Day app, through to social media support and today, where we are helping the next generation to get involved by learning how to ‘code a daffodil.’ Coding is a lot of fun to learn and it opens up a wide range of possibilities and career prospects for young people.

John McCormack, CEO, Irish Cancer Society, commented: “It’s great to have a creative partner like Dell, which, with its team of 2,300, has brought a wide range of different talents and supports to Daffodil Day. This is our sixth year working together and we’ve made lasting relationships with many team members which I know will continue after the official partnership is complete. We hope other companies will join Dell and support Daffodil Day to help cancer patients in their fight against cancer.”

Mary Moloney, CEO, CoderDojo Foundation, added: “Through today’s Daffodil Day MegaDojo, volunteers from Dell have kick-started a coding education for dozens of young people which I have no doubt will continue into the future. Once you unlock the possibilities of coding, in this case coding a daffodil to launch Daffodil Day, a child’s curiosity and imagination takes over.”

Photo: John Morgan