2023 MLK Day of Service

MLK day of service companies volunteer
Featured this week: AAON, Allstate Insurance, Blackbaud, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Capital Power, Centene Corporation, Delta Air Lines, Dominion Energy, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, FedEx, GoTo, Hormel Foods, KPMG, Lowe's, LyondellBasell, ModivCare, MUFG Bank, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Pitney Bowes, PNC Bank, PwC, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, UPS, U.S. Bank, Veolia Waters, Wawa, and Zillow

The member community convened by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship is one of a kind. The 500+ companies we serve each year around the globe are leaders in environmental, social, and governance action, and the thousands of individuals who make up this network are some of the best in the field!

Members: Would you like your company to be featured in future posts? Fill out this Member News Form.

Here is how our members have been working to build better business and a better world:

pnc bank

Spotlight on You

Leaders from PNC Bank will host a Black History Month online event to offer a productive dialogue about race, culture, and the modern Civil Rights movement in America. Michael Bickers, regional president Detroit and Southeast Michigan will provide opening remarks; Mark Allen, executive vice president, head of retail bank operations, will moderate; Miranda Creel, executive vice president, commercial sales, treasury management, will offer closing remarks. Joining the PNC team will be award-winning journalist and the first Black female radio host for NPR, Michele Norris. Norris received accolades for a Peabody Award-winning initiative, "The Race Card Project," which fosters conversation among individuals about their differences. Norris was previously the director of "The Bridge"—the Aspen Institute's program on race, cultural identity and inclusion—which addresses some of America's most complex issues by encouraging people to explore and engage with differing perspectives.

Centene Corporation has named Dr. Alice H. Chen as its chief health officer (CHO). In this role, Dr. Chen will be responsible for improving the health of the company’s members through its strategies, programs and policies. In previous roles, Dr. Chen led initiatives on affordability and access, and helped with the state of California's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Member Companies in the News

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. day, a National Day of Service, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana teamed up with Healthy Blue and Entergy to sponsor 200,000 meals at statewide food banks. Volunteers will pack meals from January 16 through January 21. Since 2018, Blue Cross Team Blue volunteers have packed more than half a million meals in these initiatives. “We know food insecurity is a challenge for many families in our state, and the stresses of the past two years have left many Louisianians struggling to access healthy meals,” said Michael Tipton, head of community relations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and president of the Blue Cross Foundation. “We are looking forward to bringing our employees together, along with our partners... to fulfill our mission to improve the health and lives of Louisianians by giving our time to our communities and, in doing so, honoring Dr. King’s legacy of service.”
lowes steam kit

Lowe’s associates at the Store Support Center in Mooresville, N.C. spent the afternoon building 1,000 STEAM kits through a partnership with Digi-Bridge to commemorate the work of Dr. Martin Luther King. The science, technology, engineering, arts, and math kits will be distributed to students by the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. Digi Bridge is one of the home improvement retailer's longstanding tech partners. The organization is focused on bridging the digital divide and creating opportunities for kids to get involved in STEAM. "The STEAM kits will feature black inventors and will be used by kids when they visit the Harvey B. Gnatt Center for African-American Arts + Culture in Charlotte," said Betsy Conway, director, community relations at Lowe's. 

Volunteers from FedEx worked together to package more than 30,000 meals Monday, as part of their volunteer efforts on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In addition to this local event in Memphis, meals were packaged in eight other U.S. cities. FedEx also celebrated the packaging of its one millionth meal with Rise Against Hunger, part of an ongoing effort to support people facing hunger globally.

In the U.S., Blackbaud employees were given the day off in observance of MLK Day, and were encouraged to volunteer in their communities with a “day on, not a day off.” In honor of this, many employees engaged in service opportunities; many Charleston employees participated in the local MLK Day Parade with their families. 

UPS published a series of employee volunteer stories, highlighting the nearly half a million volunteer hours dedicated to supporting underserved Black Communities. Examples included day-of-service activities and targeted organizations. Patrick Smith, community relations manager, organized a volunteer event with Atlanta-area UPSers to prepare for Hosea Helps’ annual food drive. The charitable organization was founded in 1971 by Hosea Williams, key civil rights leader and strong ally of Dr. King.

In honor of MLK Day of Service, Blue Cross NC and the Charlotte Hornets teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina to pack over 1,800 bags of food to be distributed to local schools.

This past holiday season, Hormel Foods celebrated the work of 10 local nonprofit organizations in and around Austin, Minnesota with $2,500 checks. “We know that funding is tough anytime during the year, and oftentimes those who work for nonprofits are the last to ask for help. It’s just a small token of appreciation for their heroic work and dedication,” said Jim Snee, CEO. With this campaign, Hormel Foods donated to: Mower County Health and Human Services, United Way Success Closet, Recovery is Happening, Immigrant Law Center, Rachel’s Hope, Children’s Dental Health Services, Mower County Seniors, LIFE Mower County, Crime Victims Resource Center and Independent Management Services.

Last month, Capital Power announced the final $1 million contribution to STARS Air Ambulance for a total of $2 million in support of its fleet renewal campaign. “Capital Power has been a long-time supporter of STARS and we recognize the invaluable life-saving service the organization provides. We’re honored to provide the final $1 million donation needed to complete the replacement of their helicopter fleet. With operations and employees in Alberta and British Columbia, it’s important that we support the essential work of STARS so that the service can continue to save lives across Western Canada,” said Brian Vaasjo, Capital Power president & CEO.

With the assistance of a $50,000 U.S. Bank Market Impact Fund grant, GRID Alternatives (the nation's largest nonprofit solar installer), will build a new Clean Tech Training Center (CTTC) in the Southern California Inland Empire region, to provide no-cost job training. The Center will be unique in that the facility will have mock roofs that allow trainees to get hands-on experience without having to be in the field. This will be especially beneficial for high school youths who are unable to get roof access because of age restrictions. A separate $10,000 U.S. Bank Community Possible Grant to GRID IE will help fund the inaugural cohort of 40 Solar Futures students at the facility, with programming for 300 students planned for 2023.

bcconf23 is open

Members on the Move

Join us in welcoming new members: Centene, ModivCare, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Veolia Waters!

A big thanks to Erin Haberman, senior director, community relations and assistant vice president, Travelers Foundation, Travelers; and Christine McElhinney, director, ESG, inclusion and diversity, AvalonBay Communities; who recently joined us as panelists at our January 11th webinar, Fostering Community Resilience. Members can (re)watch that webinar here

Members from AAONAllstate Insurance, Delta Air Lines, GoTo, KPMGLowe's, LyondellBasell, MUFG BankNationwide Mutual Insurance, NIPSCOPitney BowesPwC, and Zillow have recently registered for the 2023 International Corporate Citizenship Conference, happening this spring in Minneapolis, hometown of our convening sponsor, Target. Reserve your spot today!