Positive Change

Las Vegas Sands named Erik Weiner the winner of The Mr. Sheldon G. and Dr. Miriam Adelson Citizenship Award presented by Sands Cares. Weiner is a training coordinator at Sands Bethlehem in Pennsylvania.

Today, Walmart announced expansions to its military leave of absence policy, offering differential pay to all eligible military associates taking on assignments lasting more than three days and through the duration of leave – including basic training. Walmart has offered differential pay since 2008.

For global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland, community is a key pillar for corporate responsibility along with making products responsibly and protecting and restoring the outdoors. Employees receive up to 40 paid hours per year to participate in service to their community, and have served more than one million hours to date. At the company’s Stratham, New Hampshire world headquarters, messaging boards throughout the building proudly display Timberland’s heritage of service and promote new ways for employees to engage in the community.

Sustainable Brands® kicks off its largest community gathering today with Sustainable Brands’17 Detroit at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. Over 2,000 business executives along with their teams from 35+ countries across the globe are attending the conference and Activation Hub. In addition, there is anticipated record breaking livestream viewership in collaboration with Detroit Public Television (DPTV).

Earlier in May, Keep America Beautiful Reno, Nevada-based affiiliate Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful (KTMB) hosted its 11th annual Great Community Cleanup -- a local initiative of the Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program.

Our employees, their friends and families rolled up their sleeves and joined with our community partners to give back at more than 1,000 local projects across the U.S. and in 22 other countries. We also hit a milestone with more than 5 million total service hours donated since Comcast Cares Day began in 2001.

Students with learning difficulties at a school in Botswana have moved into a new P1.3 million (US$124,000) classroom block funded mainly by Debswana.

In its previous life, the Peck Road Water Conservation Park in Arcadia was a pebble quarry. It wasn’t pretty or inviting, but it served its industrial purpose. Today, the landscape is much different — it’s a beautiful, thriving green space in an area that is seriously lacking.

Team-building is a great reason to volunteer. But that’s only part of the equation. Not everyone enjoys volunteering in the same way. By restricting your company’s volunteer initiatives to a few large events per year, you’re also restricting employees’ individual passions and skills.

Every day, around the world, our employees choose to spend some of their time volunteering for organizations and projects they are proud to support.

Of those volunteer opportunities that primarily deal with food, our sweet spot, Second Harvest Heartland, keeps us coming back again and again. The organization has been a General Mills partner for more than three decades.