Rackspace Hosting is well known for giving back to the community, and “Rackers” sported their true “green” colors last week as they hosted the fifth-annual eco-friendly Green Day in the Rackspace parking lot.
Annie Vu, Rackspace community affairs representative and event coordinator for Green Day, explained that Rackspace employees call themselves “Rackers” inside and outside of work.
“We still can’t believe how much this Green Day event has grown over the past few years,” she said, adding that the turnout to the June 23 event was “phenomenal.”
Rackspace, an IT hosting company based in San Antonio, sponsors an ecological “Green Day” once every year to promote recycling, energy conservation and healthy-eating habits in the community.
“Last year we hosted Green Day in April and the weather was terrible, but we still had about 800 people show up,” Vu said. “It’s something the community really looks forward to and we Rackers look forward to it, too.”
Rackspace hired Fresh Horizons, a popular all-organic catering company in San Antonio, to provide attendees with a “green” lunch, grilling its famous all-organic beef patties, goat and veggieburgers.
“Everything we’re eating here today (is from) the Koch Ranch in Medina,” Vu said. “All of the food is grass-fed and home-grown.”
A list of green vendors such as Cam Solar, Tech Turn, Snapple, Saweet Cupcakes and Pearl Brewery came out to promote their environmentally-conscious ways and show their support for Green Day and the community. Tech Turn took donated electronics to recycle them.
“We have about nine vendors from the Pearl Brewery farmers’ market set up under the big white tent,” Vu said. “Cam Solar, who just signed up with us, asked if they could bring in one of their mobile-energy units to donate recycled energy and power the four large fans being used in the lunch tent. It’s really amazing what they did for us,” she added.
The Rackspace Foundation put together an evening benefit concert in honor of Green Day featuring local San Antonio-Austin band The Spazmatics. Proceeds from the concert will be put toward seven schools in the North East Independent School District, including Roosevelt High School and four middle and two elementary schools that feed to it.
“Rackspace started the foundation about two years ago,” Vu said. “It’s completely Racker-funded through payroll deductions and private donations. We wanted to help the community by funding programs for schools in our area.”
Snapple, owned by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, donated all of the drinks for Green Day in recycled glass and plastic bottles.
Cavender Cadillac-Chevrolet and North Park Lexus Toyota offered free test-drives to potential buyers in their 2011 hybrid vehicles.
“We’re trying to get the word out, because as soon as San Antonio gets more electric-friendly then we will start to see more of these electronic cars out there on the streets,” said Chris Wagner, Cavender Chevrolet sales consultant.
Rackspace employees describe themselves as a “green” and environmentally friendly group of community supporters.
“We’re about as ‘green’ as you can get here at Rackspace,” Vu said.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Rackers-host-Green-Day-1450434.php#ixzz1REtdCC1B
