On September 10, Technology Underwriting Greater Good (TUGG), an organization that aims to catalyze and spread social entrepreneurship throughout New England, hosted its fourth annual Tech Gives Back event. More than 1,500 entrepreneurs, investors and community supporters from the innovation and technology communities donated their time across 50 volunteer sites around the Greater Boston area to help support local nonprofit organizations.

WilmerHale, a lead sponsor of the event, offered space in the Boston office to serve as a Tech Gives Back micro-volunteer site. While this is the fourth year that WilmerHale has sponsored and participated in the event, this is the first time it has hosted a micro-site.

A group of nearly 100 volunteers, comprised of members of the tech and startup communities and attorneys from the firm's Corporate Practice, spent the day crafting items to help local individuals and families in need. Projects included creating placemats and cards to be delivered along with Thanksgiving meals to elderly Meals On Wheels participants, scarves for the Italian Home for Children and other shelters, and blankets for local homeless shelters and Friends of Boston's Homeless. The participants could also write letters to deployed servicemen.

"I've been involved with TUGG since the early days, when fewer than 100 people attended the organization's events," says Partner David Gammell, a member of TUGG's board. "The support of WilmerHale and its attorneys, along with other organizations, has really helped TUGG grow and mobilize the tech community to have a positive impact on local nonprofits."

Once the projects were completed, volunteers from each micro-site gathered in Boston's Seaport District for an outdoor party with food, drinks and music. Representatives from seven nonprofits were in attendance to showcase their causes, and TUGG's pool of funds were distributed to each company based on the crowd's vote at the end of the party—true to the organizations open-source philanthropy model.

"Working with TUGG provides a great opportunity for WilmerHale attorneys to give back to local nonprofits while also connecting with the local tech community and meeting prospective clients," adds Gammell. "Tech Gives Back allows the firm to do well, while also doing a lot of good."