Ford Asia Pacific Employees Come Together for Global Week of Caring

SHANGHAI, China, Sept. 11 – Ford employees across the Asia Pacific region are doing their part to build a better world this week.

As part of the Ford Global Week of Caring (GWC) program, Ford employees, their family members and dealers are participating in projects across 10 markets in Asia Pacific from September 7 to 15. The centerpiece of Ford’s year-round global volunteering campaign, GWC – now in its eighth year – highlights the efforts of employees to make a difference in their communities.

For this year’s events, employees are partnering with 25 non-profit organizations across the region. They’re also receiving support from the Ford Motor Company Fund in the form of more than US$125,000 in grants to help provide tools and supplies.

“Serving the communities in which we work and live is part of who we are at Ford. I’m so proud of the volunteer projects and activities our employees have planned and are participating in for this year’s Global Week of Caring and throughout the year,” said Dave Schoch, president of Ford Asia Pacific. “I’m also very happy to see that every market in Asia Pacific has adopted a policy of 16-hour paid community service leave this year. It shows strong commitment from the company to supporting Better World initiatives.”

Schoch was present at the start of this year’s GWC in Shanghai Saturday, where he officially opened the Ford Health Walk @Shanghai charity walkathon. More than 400 Ford volunteers braved rainy weather for the walk, raising more than RMB50,000 – to be matched by the company – to build a new library for the children of migrant workers in Shanghai.

Ford Health Walk @Shanghai is just one of 11 projects organized in mainland China alone for this year’s GWC – and one of more than 80 projects across the region. In Australia, China, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Africa, the programs cover a diverse range of community needs: environmental protection, education, community support, health, and road safety.

One employee taking advantage of the wide range of programs is June Guo, an advanced program marketing manager at Ford Asia Pacific. On Monday, she joined more than 100 employees at a wetland monitoring and protection project near Shanghai, where they cleared away more than a ton of grass and weeds.

“I was very impressed by how hard everyone worked… it was not just a chance to show our company’s responsibility to society, but also a very good chance for us to do something and see something totally different from our daily work and life,” she said. “This was the first time I’ve really participated in GWC, although I have been with Ford for 10 years. I wish I’d participated earlier!”

Over the next week, more employees will have the chance to join Guo in similarly worthy projects as part of GWC. Whether renovating schools in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, working with disadvantaged children in Taiwan and Vietnam, caring for the elderly in the Philippines, improving access to clean water in South Africa and tree-planting in India, Ford employees will be investing thousands of hours in their communities across Asia Pacific, making a real difference.

The thing I like most about GWC is that it is not just a slogan,” said Guo “From the volunteers that organize it, to the leave time that Ford gives us to support these activities, to everyone’s participation, even top management – it really shows the concept of ‘Go Further’ in action.”