ALEXANDRIA, VA — In some of the darkest economic times our country has seen, companies and their employees are stepping up to give and volunteer more to help strengthen local communities. To recognize those efforts, United Way today presented the 2009 United Way Spirit of America® award to Eli Lilly and Company, the first Indiana company to win United Way’s highest national award. General Mills, Inc., Kellogg Company, Wells Fargo and Williams received Summit awards.
“In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever to have generous partners like Lilly who are committed to strengthening our nation’s communities,” said Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way. “Whether it’s serving as a ReadUP tutor or donating lifesaving medicines, Lilly and its employees understand that improving lives in this environment requires resources coupled with active and dedicated volunteers. United Way is proud to honor them with our highest national award.”
In 2008, Lilly and its employees gave $11.4 million, representing 20% of their charitable cash donations, to United Way to help strengthen local communities. For more than 35 years, Lilly has provided nearly 25% of United Way of Central Indiana’s annual campaign.
Lilly and United Way share the same philanthropic priorities: to improve education and educational opportunities, promote financial stability for families and communities, and improve people’s health. In 2008, Lilly donated $300 million in life-saving medicines worldwide. Lilly also has committed $15 million over 5 years to create 200,000 peer diabetes mentors and another $2.5 million for grassroots diabetes education in China. Lilly is donating more than 800,000 insulin vials, which will help 24,000 children, starting with several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, Lilly donated $4.4 million plus education and technology to the WHO to help countries become self-sustainable in providing care for the millions who have fallen victim to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
In addition to volunteering more than 160,000 hours last year, during Lilly’s first Global Day of Service, 22,000 Lilly employees volunteered in more than 55 countries. Lilly’s U.S. volunteer day is one of the largest, single-day, volunteer initiatives of a U.S. company and earned Lilly a Guinness World Record for creating a 1,230 foot hand-painted mural to help beautify its Indianapolis hometown. Additionally, Lilly employees provided more than 21,000 school supplies for children through United Way of Central Indiana’s backpack attack. Lilly also recruited more than 600 employees as ReadUP tutors for fourth and fifth grade students. Lilly comprises more than half the tutors in the program, and 43% of students are reading at grade level by end of school year versus only 26% of non-ReadUp students. Lilly employees also donated an estimated 5,000 volunteer hours of skills-based Six Sigma expertise to help increase efficiency at area nonprofits and sales employees throughout the US supported their home communities by volunteering in areas of need.
“Giving to the community and lending a hand to others are part of Lilly’s heritage. It’s amazing to see our employees today embrace these same values as fervently as our founders did,” says John Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer, Eli Lilly and Company. “Receiving the United Way Spirit of America Award is a tremendous honor; yet the greatest honor remains in witnessing the large and small differences in the lives of others: families and elderly receiving needed medicines and treatments, a child mastering reading, a homeless person become self-sufficient—the opportunity to be a small part of something so important is really what drives our employees to be active in local neighborhoods and communities.”
In addition to the 2009 Spirit of America Award, United Way presented four other companies with Summit Awards for exceptional community efforts:
General Mills, Inc. for nourishing lives and communities by contributing more than 5% of company pretax profits to communities and encouraging healthy eating and active lifestyles in kids and teenagers. General Mills also donated food products, provided diversity grants and gave $100,000 to the Greater Twin Cities United Way to fight hunger. In 2008, 82% of General Mills employees volunteered in their communities, including helping low-income Minnesotans with free tax preparation.
Kellogg Company for providing funds, food and resources to help improve people’s lives. In the last 5 years, Kellogg’s contributed more than $45 million in cash and $120 million in products to nonprofits around the world, including grants to underserved schools to improve nutrition and physical activity, foodbanking development projects around the world, diversity scholarship programs, and $500,000 to United Way of Greater Battle Creek for basic needs.
Wells Fargo for their 787,772 volunteer hours in 2008. Wells Fargo’s volunteer program includes paid leave up to four months to assist nonprofits. Wells Fargo volunteers provided 582 free Hands on Banking financial education classes in English and Spanish as well as 35 foreclosure prevention seminars. Additionally, team members built 170 homes and volunteered more than 4,000 hours to provide free tax preparation. In 2008, Wells Fargo gave $102.1 million in grants to 14,000 nonprofits.
Williams for giving more than $1 million annually to the Tulsa Area United Way for the last 18 years plus their numerous creative community fundraisers, including cookie breaks, poker runs, karaoke, fishing contests for kids, car shows, Wii tournaments, shop till you drop and Tulsa’s annual dodgeball tournament which the CEO and other senior leaders participate in to raise funds. Additionally, more than 2,000 Williams employees participated in Day of Caring.
The Spirit of America Award, now in its 22nd year, is United Way’s highest national honor for a corporation, recognizing the United Way National Corporate Leadership (NCL) company with the most comprehensive commitment to improving lives and strengthening communities. Applicants are evaluated by their NCL peers, labor representatives and local United Ways.
