Ford Volunteer Corps—Making the World a Better Place
At Ford Motor Company, we consider corporate responsibility a fundamental part of doing business. We strive to be a company that makes a difference in people’s lives — one that inspires our employees, delights our customers, rewards our shareholders and makes the world a better place.
For more than 100 years, Ford and its employees have been helping the communities where we live and work through financial contributions and hands-on volunteerism. We’ve supported projects that benefit children, adults and families in need. We’ve created brighter futures for thousands of people by using our hands and our hearts. We build, plant, clean, feed and walk for causes great and small, enriching lives and showing we care. Across the United States and around the world, Ford and its employees are working to create a better living environment for people and the places they call home.
Our dedication, goodwill and individual efforts to improve our communities were unified in 2005, when Bill Ford created the Ford Volunteer Corps (FVC) to respond to the Indian Ocean tsunami and subsequent disasters in the U.S and abroad. Today, FVC is comprised of employees and retirees across six continents. We support initiatives to build stronger communities.
Ford volunteers participating in community-
building efforts that include educational
initiatives and fundraisers.
MODEL Teams Roll into Action
Ford volunteers participating in community-
building efforts that include educational
initiatives and fundraisers.
Teamwork is one of the ways we get things done at Ford Motor Company. In the Ford Volunteer Corps, we harness the energy, enthusiasm and know-how of our employees by forming MODEL Teams of volunteers who work together on important projects. These MODEL Teams maximize our efforts by quickly and efficiently organizing volunteers into fast-acting units that can quickly tackle urgent projects that benefit our community partners and the people they serve.
Ford encourages salaried employees to spend two workdays per year to volunteer at an approved nonprofit organization. In 2008, more than 21,000 salaried Ford employees and retirees donated some 124,000 volunteer hours on a wide variety of projects - from building homes for Habitat for Humanity to painting orphanages, renovating shelters, feeding the hungry, organizing medical and dental clinics, cleaning up parks and waterways, and mentoring young people.
Accelerated Action Days
Several times each year, large numbers of Ford volunteers answer the call to form MODEL Teams and take part in an Accelerated Action Day. These special days are focused on a specific theme, and concentrate hundreds of volunteers and dozens of MODEL Teams on seasonal projects in their communities:
2009
- March 3 - Children and Families: serving the needs of children
- May 15 - Better World: improving the environment
- September 11 - Community Building: safety and shelter
- November 10 – Salute Our Vets: veterans and military families
- December 4 - Giving and Sharing: helping those is need
In addition to the helping hands of volunteers, Ford provides mini-grants to nonprofit agencies to help purchase supplies, materials and tools for the volunteers to complete their projects on Accelerated Action Days.
Ford Global Week of Caring
We created Ford Global Week of Caring to connect our employees around the world through volunteerism. During Global Week of Caring 2009, more than 10,000 employees in 42 countries worked on 217 projects. The 4th annual Global Week of Caring included painting an orphanage in Cambodia, repairing a homeless shelter in Spain, collecting clothing and personal items for needy children in the Dominican Republic, and a six-day project in South Korea to benefit the disabled and elderly.
Ford Global Week of Caring takes place on 6 continents in September each year.
Lunch Buddies
Facilitated by Big Brothers Big Sisters, Ford volunteers experience the magic of mentoring by spending the lunch hour with student “buddies” once a week. From helping with homework to group discussions about life, the Lunch Buddies program enriches the lives of both mentor and student.
For more information visit: www.volunteer.ford.com
