FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 13, 2002
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The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
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Business Strengthening America |
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Answers to the Call
Who's Committed
Together the corporate leaders who are a part of Business Strengthening
America will recruit hundreds of corporations to join in answering the
President's call to service by the fall of this year. Corporate leaders at the
White House today included:
- F. Duane Ackerman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BellSouth
Corporation
- Michael Armstrong, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, AT&T
- David Bronczek, President and CEO, Federal Express Corporation
- Stephen Burke, President, Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
- Stephen Case, Chairman, AOL Time Warner, Inc.
- Raymond Chambers, Chairman, New Jersey Devils and Owner, YankeesNets LLC
- Paul Chiapparone, Vice Chairman, EDS
- Michael Eisner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney
Company
- Michael Eskew, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United Parcel
Service, Inc.
- Geraldine Laybourne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Oxygen Media
- J.W. Marriott, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Marriott
International, Inc.
- Robert Nardelli, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Home Depot
- Franklin Raines, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fannie Mae
- Steven Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, K-VA-T Food Stores,
Inc.
- Jeffrey Swartz, Chief Executive Officer, The Timberland Company
- Sidney Taurel, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Eli Lilly
and Company
- G. Kennedy Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Wachovia Corporation
- Robert Willumstad, President, Citigroup
Each of the corporations participating in the meeting today is making or
building upon a commitment to volunteer service. The following are highlights of
such commitments, including paid time off for employee volunteer service,
sponsorship of volunteer projects that draw upon the skills of employees, and
efforts to enlist consumers in service activities.
AOL Time Warner, Inc.
Expand Network for Good, the nation's most extensive civic engagement and
e-philanthropy portal, launched with Cisco and Yahoo!, that allows users to sign
up for volunteer opportunities in their local neighborhoods and make
contributions to any of the 850,000 charities in America.
AOL Time Warner is also creating a cross company, multi-year PSA media campaign
to encourage service and volunteerism among youth.
To help deploy mentors online, AOL Time Warner is creating the E-Mentoring
Toolkit, the first free-standing e-mentoring software solution that enables
companies to institute and manage their own in-house e-mentoring programs that
connect employees with under-served youth across the country in a secure online
environment.
AT&T
Through the AT&T CARES Program, 109,000 AT&T employees receive one day of paid
leave each year for community service activities. In 2001, 65 percent of AT&T
employees volunteered in their communities, and since 1996, employees have
dedicated over 4 million hours to service. An intranet site provides employees
with tools to coordinate community service projects and recruit other employee
volunteers, and special volunteer team initiatives are hosted twice each year to
encourage employees and retirees to volunteer.
Special volunteer initiatives to encourage volunteerism are held twice a year in
April and November. AT&T employees and retirees are encouraged to volunteer in
their communities either on their own or as part of a team. Large-scale
volunteer activities are planned for major AT&T locations.
BellSouth Corporation
BellSouth Pioneers are employees who will contribute at least 5.5 million
volunteer hours this year to their communities and who raised and spent $1.5
million last year on community projects. The Pioneers support organizations such
as Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement, Boy Scouts of America, March of
Dimes, NetDay, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
To assist in disaster relief efforts in the event of future natural disasters or
terrorist activity, BellSouth Corporation employees in Atlanta are involved in
American Red Cross training programs through a corporate partnership with the
American Red Cross.
To support those who have been recently diagnosed with cancer, a network of
BellSouth Corporation cancer survivors is being established to pair those
volunteers with recently diagnosed employees and retirees to provide guidance
and support.
Citigroup
Citigroup is working to expand its "Citigroup Builds Communities" volunteer
program, which has helped more than 6,000 employees in 20 states to contribute
64,000 volunteer hours to community organizations since the program was founded
in 2000.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, Citigroup created a
relief fund to provide scholarships to the children of those who were killed in
terrorist attacks. Citigroup has collected over $20 million, including $2
million from Citigroup employees.
Citigroup measures the impact of the employee and other programs it supports and
reports those results in an annual Global Corporate Citizenship Report.
Comcast Cable Communications, Inc.
The Second Annual Comcast Cares Day is scheduled for October 5, 2002. More than
7,500 employees in 26 states are expected to volunteer in their local
communities that day, and the year-round Comcast Cares volunteer program will
expand into the same 26 states after a successful pilot program in Washington,
D.C., Philadelphia and Detroit.
Comcast is using its production resources to create an hour long prime time
national broadcast highlighting and encouraging volunteerism that will air in
April 2003 and a public service announcement campaign that will air nationally.
In order to expand the Comcast Foundation Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarship
Program, which offers $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors in recognition
of their community service, Comcast has committed to award $1.1 million in
scholarships to graduating seniors in 2003.
EDS
Last year more than 21,500 EDS employees volunteered more than 58,000 hours to
support community affairs programs that make a difference in the lives of
thousands. EDS community efforts are focused on two priorities: education and
bridging the digital divide.
EDS invests in volunteer programs that enhance learning opportunities for
children and offer training and support to teachers. More than 4,000 employees
volunteer at more than 100 schools worldwide through EDS' Education Outreach
program. Through the JASON Project, EDS works to excite and engage students in
science and technology, and motivate and provide professional development for
teachers. To date, JASON has reached more than 11 million students and teachers
around the world.
Every October, EDS volunteers around the world join with clients, friends and
family to participate in Global Volunteer Day, a dedicated day for community
projects. More than 138,000 EDS volunteers have worked on more than 2,800
projects to perform more than 384,000 hours of volunteer service since 1993.
Eli Lilly and Company
As part of the new Citizen Corps initiative, Eli Lilly is launching a program to
encourage its 20,000 U.S. employees and more than 8,500 retirees to pursue
volunteer opportunities with the new Medical Reserve Corps, if they are
qualified to do so, and to help create a Citizen Corps Council in Indianapolis,
Indiana.
Lilly commits to grow upon an ongoing effort in which employees have
volunteered more than 142,000 hours to date to reach Indianapolis youth and have
awarded 175 college scholarships.
Lilly employees can spend work hours participating in Lilly Habitat for
Humanity, Lilly Boy Scout Explorer Posts, Junior Achievement, the Minority
Engineering Program of Indianapolis, and Partners in Education.
Fannie Mae
over the next five years, fannie mae and its 4,000 employees will dedicate
250,000 hours to volunteer service through we are program, which offers 10 of
paid leave each month for volunteerism efforts in an' community.
Fannie Mae and the nation's housing and mortgage finance industry partners
have committed a minimum of $25 million to support the victims affected by the
tragic events of September 11, including support funds to help pay the mortgage
and rental costs of the families of the victims of the attacks.
In Washington, D.C., the Fannie Mae Foundation will raise $35 million and
commit 40,000 volunteer hours over the next five years through its Help the
Homeless program to provide services for the homeless and support for special
needs housing.
Federal Express Corporation
FedEx Express dedicates significant resources to communities through
volunteerism, corporate donations, complimentary shipping, and alliances with
major charities. For example, FedEx Express is the program sponsor for SAFE KIDS
Walk This Way, which aims to prevent unintentional childhood injuries -- the
number one killer of children ages 14 and under.
FedEx is also a major supporter of ORBIS, an organization that helps save
sight and eliminate avoidable blindness for thousands of people around the
world. FedEx has supported ORBIS since 1982, including donating the cost and
completing the annual safety B-Check for the ORBIS DC-10 to ensure its
airworthiness.
FedEx is also a major supporter of United Way organizations, raising more
than $12.9 million last year through its annual campaign, supporting United Way
Day of Caring events at 1,200 FedEx locations across the country, and lending
the skills of FedEx employees to help in United Way offices across the country.
Marriott International, Inc.
Marriott's "Spirit To Serve Our Communities" program calls upon 142,500
associates in 65 countries and 2,600 properties to get involved in community
service through volunteering and other efforts. Each May, thousands of
associates volunteer on the company's "global day of giving," and throughout the
year they participate in other company sponsored programs and local initiatives.
Marriott incorporates group community service activities into key annual
conferences held for its meeting planner customers. Last April, at its travel
partners meeting, planners were paired with a Marriott host and children from
local Boys and Girls Clubs for a field trip. At conference in Indianapolis in
May, meeting planners processed 35 tons of food at the Gleaners Food bank.
Earlier this week, Marriott announced an innovative partnership with the
Senior Corps program to encourage and assist the 22,000 residents of Marriott
Senior Living Services facilities to find volunteer opportunities through the
Senior Corps RSVP program.
Oxygen Media
Advocacy and volunteerism on behalf of women and issues that are important to
them have been part of the mission of Oxygen Media since its inception. Choose
to Lead is Oxygen's on-air, online and grassroots campaign to increase the
number of women in elected and other community leadership positions, and it
includes more than twelve public service announcements that promote women's
leadership.
Oxygen employees are given a half day of paid leave for volunteerism and
service. Volunteer opportunities were set up for Oxygen staff at several New
York community organizations, and it is estimated that 750 employees gave over
2500 hours of service.
The Home Depot
Expanding on a long-term commitment to volunteer service, The Home Depot has set
a goal for its employees to contribute 7 million hours of volunteer time in 2002
and delivered that challenge to its employees immediately after the President's
call to service.
To help move under-employed and unemployed Americans into jobs at the Home
Depot, they have launched a national partnership with the U.S. Department of
Labor.
To rekindle Americans' interest in the timeless ideals and principles on
which our nation was founded, Home Depot is sponsoring the "American
Experience," a three-year cross-country tour featuring an original version of
the Declaration of Independence.
K-VA-T Food Stores
Through the National Grocers Association, thousands of grocery stores across the
country will commitment to inform and educate supermarket shoppers about local
volunteer programs and services and to help them find opportunities to
participate in volunteer service by putting volunteer clearinghouse web site and
toll-free phone number information on grocery bags, in bag stuffers, and on
point of sale signage.
With their suppliers, members of the National Grocers Association will also
make emergency preparedness guidance, information and products available to
their shoppers.
The Timberland Company
Timberland has long been committed to playing a strong role in its communities
around the world, and has a dedicated Social Enterprise department to support
its service initiatives and to work toward doing well and doing good. In 1997,
Timberland created the Path of Service benefit to give all employees 40 hours of
paid leave time to volunteer in their communities. As an extension of the Path
of Service, Timberland launched the Service Sabbatical, which offers employees
three to six months of paid leave to develop professional skills while working
with a nonprofit organization.
In addition to the service that individual employees do all year long,
Timberland also celebrates service with an annual Serv-A-Palooza global day of
service. Corporate offices are shut down and the company joins together to
powerfully impact local schools, elderly homes, summer camps and community
centers in 20 countries around the world. This year, 2000 employees, business
partners and community members joined together around the world to perform over
17,000 hours of service.
The Walt Disney Company
In 2001, Disney VoluntEARS around the world participated in more than 1,000
projects and programs and dedicated more than 350,000 hours to service. In
response to the President's call to service, Disney is introducing EARS to You,
a "dollars for do-ers" program to make financial contributions to charitable
organization based on an employee's involvement and time commitment.
In April, the Disney Adventures All-Stars program was launched to inspire
volunteerism and recognize kids who help their communities. An unprecedented
awareness campaign dedicated to public service will air across Disney media
properties, including ABC-TV, owned and operated TV and radio stations, and ESPN
networks, as well as outlets that speak to kids—Disney Channel, Disney.com,
Radio Disney and Disney Adventures Magazine.
United Parcel Service
UPS has invested heavily in helping nonprofit organizations build their capacity
to manage volunteer resources effectively, including a major gift over four
years and the publication of The Power of Volunteer Involvement: A Guide to
Supporting Volunteer Infrastructure.
Earlier this year and in connection with the President's Citizen Corps
initiative, UPS worked with FEMA and the Points of Light Foundation to host the
National Leadership Forum on Disaster Volunteerism to assist communities to use
volunteer resources effectively in all phases of a disaster.
For employees, UPS has created a bank of volunteer opportunities covering all
1,700 UPS communities through the Neighbor to Neighbor program, and internship
program designed to help managers understand the needs of a complex workforce by
involving them in internships with community serving organizations.
Wachovia Corporation
Wachovia gives its employees four hours of paid leave each month for volunteer
service in schools and other education programs. As a result, 82,000 employees
company-wide can use 6 days of paid time off for service each year to volunteer,
and the company also maintains a policy of matching employee contributions to
educational institutions through a program called Education First.
Wachovia has also been a part of America's Promise since it was formed in
1997, and last October, pledged that it would support America's Promise with $25
million in financial support and 3 million hours of volunteer service from
Wachovia employees.
YankeesNets, LLC
The New Jersey Devils and New Jersey Nets have committed to hosting 'service
days' during their upcoming season to promote volunteer service among fans, and
to installing consumer kiosks in their arena to encourage and enable fans to
find local volunteer opportunities through web-based volunteer clearinghouses.
To support several volunteer initiatives, the New Jersey Devils and New
Jersey Nets offer financial support to scholarship programs for students who
have a demonstrated history of community service, a Reading and Learning Center
at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, and a matching gift program to encourage
team players and coaches to support philanthropic efforts.
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