Community Involvement

Nestled along the Clark Fork River in the northeastern reaches of Montana, students at Garden City Montessori school are spread out across the floor holding impromptu photo shoots, earnestly making calculations and debating the price of a new Casio watch. These students aren’t just here to learn. They are running a vibrant marketplace—and they mean business.

Shirley Hines has lived in Houston for most of her life. She has been through hurricanes and floods before. But Harvey was different.

Lisa Colella is the president and founder of Healing Household 6, an organization dedicated to connecting caregivers of U.S. veterans with essential support as families face transitioning from active duty to the civilian world. When Lisa’s husband was forced into a medical retirement after he suffered a brain injury during deployment, the mother of two was forced to confront some issues that threatened to break up her family. Realizing there were others like her in the veteran community who needed critical resources, Lisa, now based in Charleston, South Carolina, started a Facebook group for families of veterans in an effort to strengthen the family foundation through support, and that initial network bloomed into what is now HH6.

As the first volunteer for Refuge Coffee in Clarkston, Georgia – an area that hosts the most diverse square mile in the country and is home to over 60 native-spoken languages – Karen Guess brings together people from all walks of life over the universal language of coffee and tea. She moved to the area at the same time as Refuge Coffee founder Kitti Murray, who had a dream of creating just such a communal place.

I went with a group of about 40 of my colleagues, led by our CEO Devin Wenig, to volunteer at GLIDE, an organization that has been serving San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents in the Tenderloin since the 1960s. GLIDE is known as one of the biggest social services providers in San Francisco, helping Tenderloin residents break the barriers of poverty and marginalization by simply giving them access to basic human needs — think food, shelter, clothing — and believing that everyone deserves a second chance.

November is National Native American Heritage Month, and here in Portland, Oregon, we are celebrating the artistic contributions from the American Indian and Indigenous community with this year’s Portland Film Festival (PDXFF). As the presenting sponsor, Comcast provides support for our festival to bring a wide array of diverse voices to audiences across the region. This year, we are screening over 152 films from around the world, 89 of which were directed by women – that’s nearly 60 percent of the films being screened – and, each day, a film will be shown that highlights current Indigenous voices.

Comcast NBCUniversal supported several activities in the communities we serve to ensure more kids and teens have access to the tools they need to succeed.

In honor of National Philanthropy Day, November 15, Pentair celebrates its employees around the world that have rallied together as "Team Pentair" in 2017 to volunteer their time and talents to make a different in their communities.

Volunteering is typically a major component of company culture and corporate social responsibility (CSR). And encouraging your employees to dedicate their time to bettering the community can benefit your team both personally and professionally. Not only can it build teamwork and skills, but it can also allow your employees to end the day feeling good about themselves. However, not all volunteer opportunities are located in safe areas.

Members of the Whirlpool Women's Network made up the majority of volunteers during a recent event at the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency (SMCAA), where several dozen people helped pack boxes full of non-perishable food items for low-income seniors and families.