Positive Change

San Antonio's annual Fiesta celebration, which began in 1891 and kicks off this year on April 19, is known for its tradition of artful medals commissioned by various organizations and businesses. For the second year, Whole Foods Market stores in San Antonio will sell unique medals designed by store graphic artists to celebrate Fiesta with sales benefiting Whole Kids Foundation.

Xylem’s site in Guelph, Ontario conducted a Walk for Water on April 10th as part of Xylem Watermark’s Make Your Mark 30 Day Challenge. Volunteers carried 4-liter jugs of water while walking a 5 km route to bring attention to the issues of water scarcity in many countries and to try to understand what millions of people around the world must do to obtain clean water for their families and homes. The walk ended at the Guelph Food Bank, where the volunteers donated their jugs of water.

A short video message from teens to their peers to encourage safe driving habits might be all that is needed to avoid dangerous driving situations. That is the premise behind the Toyota TeenDrive365 Video Challenge, which drew more than 1,300 entries from students across the country.

In February, EarthEcho International, along with partner Love A Sea Turtle of Greenville, North Carolina, hosted a training for volunteers from Xylem’s Morrisville location. Nine Xylem employees worked with over 100 students, guiding them through the EarthEcho Water Challenge and helping them to learn about the local aquatic ecosystem. In addition, students were able to interact with the new STEAM Lab that Love A Sea Turtle and the City of Greenville opened at River Park North. This STEAM Lab includes the first permanent EarthEcho Water Challenge field testing station to engage members of the community in the program, and was officially unveiled on World Water Day this year.

It’s April – and that means it’s Keep America Beautiful Month! You don’t have to wait until Earth Day to join Keep America Beautiful and our more than 600 state and community-based affiliates, local partners, businesses, public officials and millions of volunteers to help us End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities.

Last year, Hurricane Harvey caused widespread devastation, forcing thousands of people out of damaged homes in Texas. In December, 25 Xylem employees volunteered with Houston Habitat for Humanity, rebuilding homes that had suffered from flooding and water damage in the wake of the hurricane.

Discovery Education has partnered with a number of youth service organizations to develop resources that can help educators and communities address the social and emotional needs of students.

Walmart kicked off its fifth annual nationwide “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign today online and in stores by asking its 150 million weekly shoppers to raise the bar to support the Feeding America network of 200 local food banks and the one in eight people who battle hunger in America at some point during the year.

Rebuilding Together, the leading home and community revitalization national nonprofit organization, announced that renovations have been completed at the Boys & Girls Club of Galveston, located at 4420 Avenue P. Repairs have been performed over the last few months, culminating with an unveiling event today, made possible by a donation from HGTV’s fifth season of Brother vs. Brother.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of joining Stephanie Meeks, the president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a “fire side” chat at the Participate Social Capital 2018 Conference in Alexandria, Virginia. After our talk, which focused on the long-standing partnership between American Express and the National Trust, we listened to the Cause Keynote, which was delivered by Gary Haugen, the CEO and Founder of International Justice Mission, an organization focused on the eradication of modern day slavery.