To Mohit Chhaya, a principal IS business systems analyst at Amgen, his father was everything.
His father was a bank manager who always had a kind, calm and measured tone. As a boy, he remembered his father coming home from his job smiling and in good spirits. He admired the man who taught him the merit of hard work, the importance of integrity and the value of learning to forgive and let go. He remembered how he valued family and was a rock for them. He wanted to be just like him.
And when Chhaya went to school to study engineering and management, his father encouraged him and told him he believed in him, no matter the path he chose. His father was an optimist who saw possibilities, not limits.
“Even though I wasn’t very vocal with my feelings, he inspired me,” Chhaya said. “I always wished I had the same level of calm, patience and dedication as he did.”
Mohit Chhaya with his mother and father on their trip to Thousand Oaks.
Chhaya began work at Amgen’s Headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California in 2013. He recalled how his father came to visit him on the sprawling, tree-lined campus to see his son working there—filled with pride.
But several years ago, tragedy struck. His father had a stroke that left him paralyzed. The man Chhaya used to see standing strong, who was slow to anger and quick to find the positives began a descent into darkness. The smile he always seemed to have was gone. He had never seen his father like this before. It scared him. Saddened him. The man he knew was disappearing into himself and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it.
His father died in 2021. Chhaya was heartbroken. He wanted to do something to honor him and help others who might have suffered a brain injury. To give them a silver lining. Hope.
That’s when he heard about the Amgen Foundation’s Nonprofit Board Leadership program at the Thousand Oaks campus. Through that program, he discovered The Brain Injury Center of Ventura County, a non-profit in Southern California that worked with those who suffered from brain traumas.
After understanding their mission, he started serving them as a vice-chair on their board of directors, helping them with defining strategy and leadership. He also learned about the Amgen Foundation’s Dollars for Doers' program and Giving Tuesday double-match program. Donating—and knowing the Amgen Foundation was going to double match that—made him feel like he was making a difference.
“It might not be able to help my dad, but it can help someone,” Mohit said. “That’s why I gave.”
And why he continues to do so.
Double Match on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday as a global movement began in 2012 with a few simple goals in mind: Inspire people to give. To do something good. To make the world a better place. It was established in New York and began spreading across the country and around the world as people leveraged it and found ways to give both time and money to support charities, nonprofits and humanitarian efforts.
The Amgen Foundation began its Giving Tuesday double-match program in 2021. The way it works is fairly straightforward: For every dollar donated by eligible staff in the United States and Puerto Rico, the foundation will kick in $2. Each eligible Amgen staff member may give up to $2,500 on this one day, which will be double matched by the Foundation, up to $5,000.
Jennifer Egglin, associate director of corporate philanthropy, said the first year the double-match program was offered, staff donations plus the Foundation’s double-match resulted in over $2.5 million going to charity on Giving Tuesday. Last year, that total had grown to over $4 million on this single day, with the number of employees participating increasing every year. Egglin said growth is continuing for Giving Tuesday, which for the Amgen Foundation runs for 24 hours beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern Time Dec. 2.
She notes how the Amgen Foundation is committed to boosting participation to continue to engage employees in making a difference.
Scott Heimlich, executive director of corporate philanthropy and president of the Amgen Foundation, is also keen to continue to engage more employees in giving year-after-year. “By matching donations 2:1 on this one day, we can make an even greater impact in our communities and reinforce our culture of giving,” he said.
Broad Range of Beneficiaries
There are large organizations that remain popular with givers, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, United Way and the American Red Cross. But local groups can also be the beneficiaries of Giving Tuesday, and some employees at Amgen have targeted those in hopes that the matches will make a bigger impact.
Mary Clouser, associate director for observational research, found a chance to give close to home when her children attended a small nonprofit preschool and knew that the double-match would have a deeper impact because of their small budget. And she loved the school so much, she continues to donate on Giving Tuesday so it can continue to provide a play-based preschool to future generations.
“It was such a special place and I was so impressed with how it was run,” she said. “They always needed money to fix things or beautify the garden and it’s nice knowing my donation can have a real impact there.”
Mary Clouser's son enjoying his preschool's pumpkin patch.
Mary Clouser with her kids on vacation.
Sonya Lehto, medical writing associate director, also donates to the local public schools her children attended—specifically their music programs where her daughter played viola. She also donated to the school’s soccer and cross-country teams. Over the years, she has seen how the doubles match helps all three activities at the school and continues to help new students.
“The coaches and teachers are very important leaders and influencers of our kids and it’s nice to have some resources at their disposal that can be provided through donations,” Lehto said. “That way they’re not stressed over every dollar and dime, and they can focus on the work they do for the students.”
Sonya Lehto with her daughter at a cross-country meet.
Finding the right place to give is often a personal choice for the Amgen employees who participate in Giving Tuesday.
For Heather Binda, a senior director of commercialization, the spectrum of her giving spans pediatric cancer foundations, organizations that bring STEM & the arts to children in underserved communities and groups supporting teens and athletes with differing abilities.
Brittney Drake, a material compliance associate based in Colorado, gives to a variety of animal rescue groups. Monique Robbins, a marketing senior manager in Deerfield, Illinois, donates to groups that assist victims of domestic violence—an area she has been involved with for 25 years.
“When you see these groups help people find their way out and that those lives are changed forever, it’s immensely rewarding to know you helped,” Robbins said. “By giving, you’re helping those who were in that terrible circumstance overcome and break the cycle.”
Heather Binda and colleague on campus with KidStream science kits.
All of them noted that they value donating on Giving Tuesday the most—marking it on their calendars and often saving their money to give on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to provide the recipient organization with the maximum benefit from the double-match.
“It’s more money for the organization you already care about and want to give to,” Drake said. “Giving Tuesday is the time to do it. The double-match makes those dollars go so much further. It’s the most bang for your buck.”
Chhaya said it doesn’t matter who you choose to give to because there is so much need and so much work to still be done in the world.
Giving Tuesday and the Amgen Foundation’s double-match program is just a way to make those efforts a little easier for those doing the work. He said his life's vision is to use modern technology to make the operations of charity organizations as efficient and effective as possible.
“It’s the least I can do, for the things I have been blessed in my life with,” he said. “And I hope it inspires others to give, too,” he said.
