Fighting Poverty

Simple things can bring great comfort to those living without shelter. That is why America’s No. 1 basic apparel, underwear and sock brand is donating 225,000 pairs of socks to organizations fighting homelessness across the United States in its ninth year of sponsoring the Hanes National Sock Drive.

Since 2015, Las Vegas Sands has made addressing the homelessness issue in its corporate headquarters its primary issue. We have a core focus on youth homelessness, along with targeted initiatives that can strongly impact all people experiencing homelessness in our community.

Did you know a poorly maintained yard causes moisture and pest problems? Both of which can be detrimental to the health of the home and those inside. Rebuilding Together affiliates nationwide help neighbors in need, like Cheryl, protect their homes from these dangers by removing debris, pruning overgrown bushes and trees and installing drain pipes that carry water away from the home’s foundation.

Subaru of America, Inc. today hosted a special kickoff event to celebrate the return of the Subaru Share the Love Event, the automaker’s annual philanthropic event aimed at supporting charities across the country. Employees at Subaru of America (SOA) headquarters in Camden, NJ partnered with the Food Bank of South Jersey to donate and pack a record-breaking 6,600 ‘KidzPacks,’ containing items that can produce up to four nutritionally-balanced meals and snacks for a child.

More than 500 volunteers in Las Vegas joined Las Vegas Sands and social enterprises Clean the World and the American Red Cross to build 35,000 hygiene and comfort kits to support populations in need. The large community volunteer effort was in part with the company’s global annual kit build and its active approach on community preparedness.

Today, American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Main Street America announced the winners of the 2018 Partners in Preservation: Main Streets campaign. The 11 winning historic sites will receive a total of $1.6 million in grants to fund their respective preservation projects. At the outset of the campaign, an additional $400,000 was allocated to the 20 Main Street communities that participated in the program to increase public awareness of the importance of these historic places and build grassroots support for the participating Main Street districts.

We’ve identified this as a priority for the company several years ago. We felt it was an issue the public didn’t know much about and as one of the biggest employers in Southern Nevada, we’re able to provide resources and help bring awareness to the issues most important as we work together with our community partners.

Arash Ghafoori is the Executive Director of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY), Southern Nevada’s most comprehensive service provider for homeless youth. Leveraging his diverse background in policy, academia, and the start-up and corporate worlds, Ghafoori has transformed NPHY into a community leader on issues affecting Southern Nevada’s homeless youth.

Poverty Is Unnecessary Fund members are donating $25,000 each to alleviate global poverty; the Poverty Is Unnecessary Benefit & Live Auction will celebrate the impact of this work by Whole Planet Foundation and its supporters.

The Fortune 2018 Change the World list features 57 companies that are doing well by doing good. These businesses are trying to fix big problems and make money while doing it. That’s right, it’s not a list about charity (though many of these companies also have charitable efforts). It’s about how business—one of the most scalable and sustainable engines we know of—is using its resources and expertise to tackle the biggest challenges. In recent years, more companies are taking steps to try to solve large-scale social issues; it’s a trend that’s not likely to slow down.