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November 10, 2009
The traditional Alcoa Worldwide Month of Service has taken place at all three Alcoa Russia Locations
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Samara, Belaya Kalitva, Moscow – More than 2500 Alcoa employees in Russia participated in the Month of Service in October. The total time volunteered by Alcoans exceeded 12,000 hours. Together with family members, partner organizations and community members the total number of participants in the Month of Service came to about 5 thousand people. Community events took place in the regions where Alcoa has presence – Samara, Belaya Kalitva in the Rostov Region and Moscow.
The Month of Service is Alcoa’s global tradition. It takes place in October in all regions of Alcoa presence worldwide. The Month of Service events are aimed to improve the quality of life in the communities in the priority areas for Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation. These areas include Global Education &Workplace Skills, Healthy & Safe Children & Families, Conservation & Sustainability, Business & Community Partnership. Thousands of Alcoa employees and other community members participate in the events initiated by Alcoa locations or employees. Individual initiative is particularly appreciated and encouraged with corporate volunteer programs ACTION и Bravo!
During the Month of Service-2009 Russian Alcoans held environmental projects in 9 natural areas and parks, planted 850 trees, helped about 1500 elderly people, improved the condition of 16 non-profit organizations and 22 schools. The assisted non-profit organizations included a social-rehabilitation center for elderly, a social-rehabilitation center for youth? Boarding schools for children with disabilities and orphan children, a Red Cross department. Many events involved children when Alcoa employees held safety and environmental lessons at schools, held environmental events with children’s participation, organized an interactive tour in Moscow for orphan children, visited an orphanage. For the first time all Alcoa locations held blood donation events during which 153 employees donated blood.
Samara
This year Alcoa SMZ employees collected toys and playing games for special correction educational institutions and kindergardens for disabled children, helped boarding schools No. 113 and No. 71 of the Kirovsky district of Samara to beautify their school areas, supported a partner school No. 96 of the Kirovsky district of Samara in creation and beautification of a model ecological path “Zapovednaya Alleya”.
Several conservation and ecological expeditions were organized to the Samaraskaya Luka National Park and the Samara Botanical Garden. During these events our volunteers cleaned up and beautified areas, removed dry and tourist garbage from the sites, planted trees and bushes, installed information boards on environmental issues, etc. We also pay a lot of attention to our veterans: during the Month of Service we organized for them visits and plant tours to the Samara Metallurgical Plant. Our veterans participated in different festive events devoted to celebration of the international Day of Elderly People. Over 700 veterans were invited to a concert at the Palace of Culture “Metallurg” organized by Alcoa SMZ volunteers together with the Metallurg Charity Foundation. On October 29, 2009 60 Alcoa volunteers participated in a donor action and donated their blood for children suffering from leukemia.
The Heart-to-Heart program in the Samara Region
One of the most important community programs implemented in Samara under support of Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation is the Heart-to-Heart program of the International Children’s Medical Alliance. During the Alcoa Worldwide Month of Service 2009 we reviewed and presented the results of a 7-years work of this program aimed at the establishment of a Pediatric Cardiac Center of Excellence in the Samara Region. Famous pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from leading US cardiac centers from San Francisco, Philadelphia, California, etc. were involved into this program. Due to joint efforts and hard work of Samara and US cardiologists, numbers of babies with serious birth heart defects, who had been successfully operated in Samara, were constantly increasing during these 7 years. New methods of early diagnosis of heart diseases were implemented and results of open-heart operations were constantly improved. Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons from Samara learned how to make operations on open-hearts for babies at the age under three years. The main result of this program is that today there is no a queue for urgent heart operations for small children in the Samara region. A new task is to reduce a case fatality rate and after-operation risks, and to develop advance methods for early hear operations. Alcoa has been supported this program since 2007.
Moscow
On October 17, 2009 Alcoa Moscow volunteers together with the Zdes-i-Seichas (Then-and-There) NGO organized a special interactive tour in Moscow for 25 children from Petrovsk Orphanage of the Yaroslav Region. Aim of this event was not only to show the children places of interest in Moscow, but first of all to learn them how to feel comfortable and know ways around in the city, understand and use rightly the Moscow underground mapping. Community service events organized by Alcoa Moscow volunteers for orphans aim at helping children to obtain new knowledge and skills, and to get adapted in the community. The tour lasted 10 hours. Based on the results of the event our volunteers would apply for a $1,500 Alcoa Foundation grant to the Zdes-i-Seichas (Then-and-There) NGO.
Belaya Kalitva
During the Alcoa Worldwide Month of Service 2009 volunteers from Alcoa Metallurg Rus at Belaya Kalitva participated in 32 community service events. Alcoa volunteers and their family members supported the elderly veterans at BK Center for Social Rehabilitation, beautified the grounds at BK Orphanage, planted trees, spruced up and cleared out the Veterans union premises, made repairs in a kindergarden, supported the elderly in need at home, cleaned up and renovated the grounds at the Social Rehabilitation Center for blind people. This Month of Service was the first one when Alcoa volunteers at Belaya Kalitva participated in a blood donation campaign: totally 83 volunteers from Alcoa Metallurg Rus and Kalitva Plant donated their blood. Alcoa volunteers from EHS participated in First Aid presentations and training held in three partner middle schools.
The Heart-to-Heart program in the Rostov Region
End of October, 2009 the Heart-to-Heart program of the International Children’s Medical Alliance was officially launched at Rostov Center of Cardiac and Cardiovascular Surgery of the Rostov Regional Clinical Hospital. Like in Samara, US pediatric cardiologists and cardiac surgeons will provide here cardiac diagnostics and surgeries to children with heart defects, and will share their expertise in the field of pediatric cardiology with their Rostov colleagues in accordance with up-to-date international standards. A group of cardiac specialists consisting of 18 US cardiologists and cardiac surgeons and their Russian colleagues from leading Russian cardiac centers which have been partnered with the Heart-to-Heart International Children’s Medical Alliance for many years came to Rostov for the first time. US cardiologists will share their worldwide expertise and new methods of early diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases with their Russian colleagues. From October 21 until October 31, 2009 they made diagnostics and open-heart surgeries for patients with hard heart diseases at Rostov Cardiac Center. Totally 10 heart operations were made as master-classes which were further thoroughly analyzed by specialists. Alcoa Foundation will continue to support the Heart-to-Heart program in Rostov which will also last 7 years like in Samara.
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