Volunteering

In this episode of the Champions for Social Good podcast, we talk with Aria Finger, CEO of DoSomething.org, a “tech-company” style nonprofit that reaches 5.5 million teens and young adults ages 13-25 in every part of the United States and 130+ countries around the world. With over 300 campaigns for young people to join, DoSomething.org focuses on authenticity to get young adults involved with social good.

October was National Arts and Humanities Month, a monthlong celebration of the role the arts and culture play in transforming Americas communities. To recognize the important role of the business community in advancing the arts, Americans for the Arts annually presents the BCA 10 awards celebrating ten businesses for their innovative partnerships with the arts.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of America Recycles Day, national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI,) today are hosting the 2017 “State of Recycling” Forum in Washington D.C., presented in partnership with Keurig Green Mountain. The topic for this year’s “State of Recycling” Forum is: Plastics: Improving Quality. Driving Demand.

Marsh & McLennan Companies is a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in risk, strategy and people. This week, the company published its fifth Corporate Citizenship Report.

Recently, over 100 volunteers from Timberland and its partners from Journeys, KicksUSA and Urban Outfitters, as well as local Philadelphia photo-blogger Conrad Benner of StreetsDept.com, came together to help transform a section of an abandoned railway in Philadelphia into a new city green space, that will open to the public in Spring 2018.

This year, over 7,300 Shire employees volunteered 29,000 hours and we partnered with over 250 charities in 300 global locations.

Col. Nathan Thomas Jr. is a retired veteran who served more than 39 years in the Army and Air Force, but for this Alabama native, currently living in Melbourne, Florida, supporting his community has been a natural extension of his life’s work. As a teenager, Nathan marched alongside civil rights heroes in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama, and was beaten along with hundreds of other marchers in the horrific 1965 “Bloody Sunday” police attack in Selma. Nathan is inspired every day by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s idea of “The Beloved Community."

To commemorate its anniversary in October, Xylem, a leading global water technology company dedicated to solving the world’s most challenging water issues, held its second annual Global Month of Service. Embracing the goals of Xylem’s corporate citizenship program, Xylem Watermark, employees around the world came together to provide and protect safe water resources for communities in need and to educate people about water issues. Throughout the month, Xylem employees volunteered more than 7,800 hours by participating in nearly 100 events in 28 countries.

This year marks the fifth edition of Giving Around the Globe, a leading report that explores Corporate Societal Investment (CSI) insights and cross-regional strategies among the world’s leading companies. The report is part of CECP’s continued efforts to study worldwide trends and better understand how companies, whether headquartered in the US or internationally, are pursuing strategies to be a Force for Good.

For military veterans who have proudly served, there can be physical and emotional injuries that make it difficult to transition back to civilian life – some estimates say as many as 20 percent of returning vets suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Barbara Blair has touched the lives of many struggling vets in need of companionship through her efforts as the Georgia chapter director of Pets for Vets, where she leads state-wide programs for the national organization dedicated to veterans and rescued shelter pets.