Marco recently provided volunteer assistance and support to help ship more than 20,000 books to universities across Nigeria through Books For Africa.
Marco employees stepped up to volunteer hours of their time to package the books for a major shipment made possible by the work of Bassey Eyo, a retired professor at St. Cloud State University and a native of Nigeria. Eyo has been collecting textbooks for Books For Africa for 35 years. Marco also provided one of its trucks to complete the first leg of the books’ route to Nigeria.
“We’re always grateful for opportunities to give back to our communities,” Marco CEO Jeff Gau said. “Bassey has done a lot for this area and we were happy to help out and return the favor.
As Marco explained, Eyo collected most of the academic books from colleagues at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, where Marco is headquartered. They cover everything from business to science and engineering to social science and art. After he gathered the books, he knew he needed a large crew to prepare the shipment. He made a call to Jeff Gau, who he had met 30 years ago in the St. Cloud Leadership Programme through the St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Jeff was a dynamo in leadership even then,” Eyo said. “He made quite an impression on me and we’ve been friends since. When I called him to ask if he could help me transport the books, he was quick to say yes.”
The volunteer effort is part of Marco’s Gold Standard volunteer programme that encourages employees to get involved in the local community and allows them to volunteer on company time.
To make shipments like Eyo’s possible, Books For Africa accepts monetary donations to assist with transportation of the books. To make a donation to Books For Africa, contact the organisation at bfa@booksforafrica.org.
