A team of Microsoft employees from Corporate Strategy Group, HR volunteered to help nonprofit organization Mighty Crayon on Sept. 15 during the Day of Caring.

High schooler Amol Garg founded Mighty Crayon as a continuation of his Eagle Scout project in 2016. The current organization consists of Garg and two other members, Manan Gandhi and Alex Fu.

After realizing there is a large amount of lightly used crayons that go to waste in restaurants, the trio partnered with local eateries to send them to Mighty Crayon, according to a press release. Every month, they get about 200-400 crayons, which they then sort, sanitize and pack. These crayon packs of four are then paired with coloring books that they have designed themselves and the “crayon care packages” are sent to kids in need around the world. Last year, they sent the crayons to Ugandan slums to support school kids living under $2 a day through their partnership with another nonprofit, T.E.C.H. For the World. This year, they have expanded and started bringing smiles to kids faces through art in local schools, the press release adds.

Microsoft volunteers for this event were led by Erika Cherrier and they sorted, cleaned and packed nearly 1,000 bundles of crayons. Additionally, they were able to set up a foundation to design a new coloring book, which will be going to Hazel Valley Elementary in Burien and many other local schools in future deliveries. The team lived its mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, the press release said.