2009 was filled with charitable acts by language service providers (LSPs), globalization software vendors (GSVs), and others in the language industry. While not all companies feel comfortable broadcasting their good deeds, the receiving organizations actually encourage them to trumpet their donations — it increases awareness of the services offered by the recipients, thus driving more more contributions and demand for those services.

We received notices from some of the organizations that benefited from their generosity, notes and press releases from some of the donors, and heard of still others at conferences and in briefings. What we found encouraging was the range of activities engaged in by language service and technology providers and practitioners. This year, we call out the wide range of mitzvahs performed by companies in the sector:

• Local outreach to help people and organizations with language needs. We heard from a variety of LSPs about their donation of free translation and interpreting to non-profit organizations in their areas, “free translation days” for members of various linguistic communities, and projects that ranged from tutoring at the local jail to bilingual facilitation of immigration meetings to job training.
• Translation to assist medical, social, and political causes. LSPs and associations organized or took part in a wide range of activities to help their favorite causes, including Ashoka, Action Contre la Faim, Chernobyl Children Project, Doctors without Borders, Handicap International, Medecins du monde, the Princeton University Language Project, and Project Aladdin.
• Donations in lieu of holiday cards. Many LSPs and GSVs eschewed the traditional snail-mailed holiday card and thus executed a double mitzvah — their web-delivered greeting cards had a smaller carbon footprint than paper cards, and they donated the money they saved on printing, envelopes, and postage to a range of organizations, including some fighting diseases such as malaria and AIDS, orphanages and homes for the elderly, animal shelters, centers for victims of domestic abuse, medical services for immigrants, UNICEF projects, and various eleemosynary foundations.

Many LSPs and GSVs regularly donate their services or cash to organizations with linguistic or cash needs — and have been doing so for years. Helping those in need is something that is worth celebrating. Happy New Year!