PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
On Saturday, April 22nd, more than 100,000 Comcast NBCUniversal employees, and their families and friends, and community partners will participate in the 16th annual Comcast Cares Day, the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort and a culmination of the company’s year-round commitment to community service. At nearly 1,000 projects across the nation and in approximately 20 countries around the world, volunteers will be revitalizing neglected neighborhoods and parks, teaching digital literacy skills, painting murals, cleaning up beaches, installing computer labs, stocking community food banks, and much more.
This year, Comcast Cares Day falls on Earth Day and Comcast NBCUniversal has announced a new companywide goal to conduct half a million environmentally friendly volunteer hours by 2020. Volunteering on projects that make a positive environmental impact in local communities is an extension of the company’s longstanding commitment to sustainability across every part of its business, including transforming the way we work to manage energy, emissions and natural resources as part of our sustainability goals. Hundreds of this year’s Comcast Cares Day projects will support this initiative by including environmentally-friendly practices that leave a positive impact on our planet. The company will also commemorate Earth Week through a Green is Universal consumer education initiative, called “Green Up,” which celebrates 10 years of NBCUniversal’s commitment to creating a greener future by sharing tips and topical content that encourages consumers to make greener choices that will eventually become habits.
“Comcast Cares Day is at the heart of our company’s culture. I am so proud and appreciative of our employees and the many volunteers who give their time to help make a difference in the lives of others,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation.
To expand our reach and provide additional ways to help drive positive change, Comcast NBCUniversal also partners with Global Citizen and Red Nose Day – two initiatives working for a just world, free from poverty, globally and in the United States. Global Citizen and Red Nose Day harness music and entertainment as vehicles to engage people around the world to drive positive change.
“Every year on Comcast Cares Day, I am in awe of the significant change that we can make when we all come together for a common cause. Thanks to all of our volunteers and ongoing work with our wonderful community partners, our efforts are felt long after Cares Day,” said David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation and Chief Diversity Officer. “To further extend our impact, I am thrilled that we also partner with Global Citizen and Red Nose Day to provide additional ways to take action and make a positive difference.”
Through Comcast Cares Day, volunteers to date have contributed nearly 5 million volunteer hours at 7,700 projects and more than $20 million in grants to participating local non-profit community partners since Comcast Cares Day started in 2001.
“Comcast Cares Day demonstrates how we can drive positive change when our employees, their family and friends, and our community partners all roll up their sleeves to volunteer and make a lasting difference in our communities,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, Senior Vice President of Community Investment for Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast and NBCUniversal Foundations. “From stocking food banks to teaching technology skills to youth and their families, our employees are active members of the community 365 days a year.”
Comcast NBCUniversal will partner with many non-profit community organizations, including National Council of La Raza, National Urban League, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, City Year, Easterseals, and The Arc, along with hundreds of other local community organizations that will be working side-by-side with Comcast Cares Day volunteers on Saturday.
Below is a sampling of the nearly 1,000 projects taking place as part of Comcast Cares Day:
- Spokane, Wash. (Newman Lake) – Approximately 150 volunteers will preserve the natural beauty that surrounds the Inland Northwest by planting trees at a 300-acre parcel under a conservation easement at Newman Lake.
- Nashville, Tenn. (Adventure Science Center) – Approximately 150 volunteers will clean the streets and alleys around Adventure Science Center, as well as beautify the picnic table area, landscape, and participate in Earth Day educational opportunities.
- New York, N.Y. (Chinatown Manpower Project) – Approximately 30 volunteers will use their professional skills to help guide and assist youth and adult members of Chinatown Manpower Project in their career and professional development, including group and individualized breakout sessions to provide specialized support in resume building, mock interviews, elevator pitches, and general career coaching.
- Framingham, Mass. (The Learning Center for the Deaf) – Approximately 150 volunteers will help with a spring clean-up and beautification project, including painting, landscaping, cleaning, and creating décor items on the 14 acre, 17 building campus.
- Holland Park, England (Ecology Centre Forest School) – Approximately 100 volunteers will help improve the space for students, further enabling the School’s mission to encourage the development of children's emotional and physical development through outdoor play and learning about nature and wildlife. Tasks will include planting and building a log habitat.
- Philadelphia, Pa. (Shane Victorino Boys & Girls Club) – Approximately 200 volunteers will clean, paint and make minor repairs inside the Club, as well as remove litter and clean up the property surrounding the Club. Working with Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, with funding from Scripps Networks Interactive for the fourth consecutive year, volunteers will renovate a multipurpose room to create a space for the Club’s middle school robotics program, an arts and crafts area, and a meeting space for the many programs that Club kids are involved with there.
- Margate, Fla. (Margate STEM Magnet Middle School) – Approximately 1,000 volunteers will work on this school beautification project with an emphasis on sustainable, low-maintenance landscaping. Projects include the creation of a staff meditation garden and updates to the teachers’ lounge, safe areas for the students, including the installation of benches and a privacy fence, and painting murals. The Comcast Digital Connectors team will teach basic digital literacy skills to the parents of the students that attend Margate.
Comcast NBCUniversal supports the communities we serve by volunteering, providing access to innovative technology, giving financial support and partnering with organizations to make communities stronger. Comcast primarily invests in programs and nonprofits that address digital literacy, youth leadership development and community service. Since 2001, Comcast has given nearly $5 billion in cash and in-kind contributions to support nonprofit organizations and other charitable partners across the country.
About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated nearly $200 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
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