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May 11, 2009
A Decade of Service in One Year: Alcoa Volunteers
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As the nation turns its eye to philanthropy during Volunteering Australia’s National Volunteering Week (11-17 May 2009), Alcoa of Australia today announced a company record 90,976 hours of volunteering in 2008, equating to 3,791 days or 10.4 years.
The efforts of 22%* of Alcoa’s Australian workforce generated a total of $US308,000 in community funding, as the Aussie workforce got on board with the Alcoa Foundation’s signature volunteering programs ACTION and Bravo! All aspects of community benefited, from emergency services and health care to environment conservation and schools.
ACTION (Alcoans Coming Together in our Neighbourhoods) offers grants to not-for-profit organisations benefiting from teams of Alcoans working collaboratively on specific projects. Last year 43 ACTION grants, worth US$1,500 or US$3,000 (depending on team size) were awarded due to the efforts of 528 employees. The Bravo! program recognises individual effort when 50 hours of personal time are committed to one organisation in one year. Last year, 752 Bravo! participants generated that many $250 grants for their community organisations.
Expressing his satisfaction at the latest figures, Alcoa’s Managing Director Alan Cransberg reiterated the importance of volunteering to Alcoa.
“Volunteering is in Alcoa’s DNA, it’s a critical part of our social responsibility and I would like to see everyone get involved in some capacity.
“Watching numbers grow like this is fantastic and makes me exceptionally proud. The uncertain world we live in today cries out for more community spirit and person to person support. Absolutely Alcoa is a part of that.â€
Alcoa’s annual global celebration of volunteering each October, ‘Month of Service’, drew participation from 37% of the Australian workforce. The total participation from the global Alcoa workforce was 24%, up 6% from 2007. During ‘Month of Service’ in Australia, 67 community organisations were helped, over 540 employees attended workshops to learn how to reduce their personal greenhouse footprint through Alcoa’s Make an Impact program, and a range of environmental activities were held with over 7,655 trees planted by employees and community members.
Read more on Alcoa’s volunteering and community partnerships at www.alcoa.com.au under the Community tab.
*% participation – based on 6004 employees
Media Contact: Michaela Southby: 0400 127 427
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