Community Involvement
Engaging with the people and places where we live and work enables us to communicate with, learn from and contribute to our local communities, fostering positive relationships in a meaningful way. Our sustainability strategy underscores our global commitment to generating positive impacts in our communities. By offering our team members opportunities to give back, we strive to instill a sense of purpose and vested interest.
Last year, we established a goal for community involvement. As we progressed, we recognized that our dedication and commitment to this initiative cannot be measured merely in hours. To promote a wider range of community events, we have aligned our strategy to shift our focus from volunteer hours to the hosting of community events at our facilities. Our goal is to hold at least 24 community events per year. This target reflects the number of our global manufacturing sites, where we believe our local community engagement efforts will have a stronger impact.
Our definition of community engagement now includes activities organized either by the company or external entities that involve or serve our communities. These can include volunteer activities, sponsorships, local festivals, public meetings, charity events, educational workshops and other initiatives aimed at engaging with residents, stakeholders, or specific groups within the community.
By leveraging the passion, knowledge, and energy of our associates, our goal is to support local initiatives and maximize our positive impact where it can make a difference. In 2023, we proudly hosted 61 events, demonstrating our commitment to community engagement and our dedication to promoting growth within the communities we serve. You can read more about these initiatives in the case studies below and in our DEi section on our Commitment to Black-Based Broad Economy Empowerment.
Local 2023 Community Engagement Highlights include:
– Morristown, New Jersey: Hosted an Earth Day event where associates picked up litter at a local park.
– Visp, Switzerland: Hosted several sporting events including marathons, ice hockey and floorball.
– Saito, Brazil: Associates collected plastic buckets and aluminum seals to generate funds to support the purchasing of 21 wheelchairs for local recipients.
– Williamsport, Pennsylvania: Sponsored a local Little League baseball team, football team and college wrestling team.
– Alpharetta, Georgia: Associates hosted a food drive benefitting a local food shelter and collected toys for their local Toys for Tots initiative during the holiday season.
We look forward to maximizing our efforts even more over time as sites and associates identify relevant needs and find ways to contribute.
We will continue to work diligently toward achieving our goals, promoting activities that not only support but actively enhance the well-being and development of our local communities. Our pledge to community improvement remains steadfast and we are excited to build on our successes to create even greater positive change.
Looking forward to 2024
In 2024, we will aim to maintain efforts to empower associates to make an impact through first-hand community involvement through volunteerism with respective civil society partners in a chosen community. We will continue to review what, where and when to support our communities to maximum effect. The intent is to create and facilitate opportunities that have meaningful influence locally, while aligning and supporting our purpose, values and strategy globally.
