Volunteering & Community

Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company committed to improving Quality of Life, announced today a North American Single Use Plastics Reduction Plan that will eliminate single use plastic bags and stirrers by 2019, polystyrene foam items such as cups, lids and food containers by 2025, and shift straws to a “by request” item that will still be available to customers who need them while moving toward more sustainable materials.

Paper or plastic? It’s a debate that has raged for years about a variety of goods, including grocery bags, food packaging materials, lollipop sticks, personal care items and other single-use products. The latest item to make headlines is the humble straw. Plastic drinking straws are ubiquitous, but they may soon take a backseat to paper drinking straws.

JetBlue today announced that it is putting good on the map. Literally. To celebrate the airline’s nonstop commitment to giving back and good deeds, JetBlue is adding a new destination to its network this November — Destination Good. As part of JetBlue For Good Month, JetBlue is flying a plane full of winning do-gooders to Destination Good for a volunteer experience departing on Giving Tuesday, November 27. The twist? The actual location won’t be revealed until the morning the contest winners depart from New York’s JFK International Airport.

During National Suicide Prevention Week (September 9-15), more than 2,200 Louisville residents were trained in Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), a nationally known suicide prevention technique.

Similar to CPR, QPR is designed to support an emergency response to someone in crisis and to save lives.

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Harriet Harral the Executive Director of Leadership Fort Worth (LFW) to Pro Bono Perspectives! LFW is a Texas-based nonprofit that is among the oldest community leadership-development programs in the nation. Harriet has acquired expertise in organizational effectiveness and leadership development through her experience working in not only the non-profit sector but also the public and corporate sectors. Talk about a cross-sector leader!

‘Viewpoints’ invites guest authors from outside of Wells Fargo to share an important perspective related to their work. Today, we welcome Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber in history to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, and the co-founder and board vice president of No Barriers USA.

The UPS Foundation today announced a $1.5 million commitment to support relief and recovery efforts for the earthquake/tsunami in Indonesia and Hurricane Michael in Florida. Through a combination of cash grants, in-kind transportation movements and technical expertise, The UPS Foundation, in collaboration with its disaster relief partners, will provide urgent relief, as well as support for long-term needs ranging from rebuilding to personal and financial recovery assistance.

One of Xylem’s long-standing nonprofit partners, Planet Water, celebrated the installation of its 1,000th “AquaTower” on October 3rd, achieving one million people across fourteen countries who now have access to clean, safe drinking water. The 1000th Tower jumpstarts a new organization initiative to bring clean water to an entire District in Cambodia. Xylem is proud to have worked alongside Planet Water for years, setting up AquaTowers that last from 5-7 years in communities that currently lack safe drinking water. Xylem also provides WASH education to the community’s residents. Thank you, Planet Water, for making this impact possible. Together, we celebrate this accomplishment, and look forward to continuing to work together to solve water globally.

Las Vegas Sands and long-time partner, Clean the World, have hosted hygiene kit builds every year since 2014. The first year, the large volunteer effort brought in a total of 100,000 hygiene kits for populations in need. The kit builds have expanded into a global event in the US, Macao, and Singapore and support the company’s active approach on community relief and disaster preparedness efforts through Sands Cares, the company’s global corporate giving and community engagement program.

In response to the Macau Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) calling on the Macao community to help alleviate damage throughout the city caused by Typhoon Mangkhut, 60 volunteers from Sands China Ltd.’s (SCL) Sands Cares Ambassador program helped clean up Hac Sa beach, where they disposed of branches, debris, and helped shovel displaced sand back onto the beach.