John Deere honored by United Way Worldwide
On April 30, John Deere was honored by United Way Worldwide as one of two companies recognized for its strategies to engage employees in volunteering and donating to United Way-related initiatives.
At the United Way Community Leaders Conference in Dallas, Deere and UPS were presented awards for Employee Engagement. United Way also cited Kimberly-Clark for Consumer Engagement and Wells Fargo for Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement.
“These companies are accelerating community change,” said Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way Worldwide. “People across the world are benefitting from the passion these companies exhibit daily.”
United Way reported that Deere had more than 2,000 U.S. employees spend a day volunteering as part of the United Way’s Day of Caring in 2014. In addition, Deere’s “dollars for doers” program lets employees earn a $1,000 grant for approved charities if they volunteer at the agency for more than 40 hours in a year.
“John Deere employees and the John Deere Foundation donated approximately $7 million in 2014 in support of United Way,” said Mara Sovey, director of global citizenship at Deere & Company and president of the John Deere Foundation. “John Deere employees continue to endeavor to enhance the communities where they work and live both in the U.S. and around the world.”
“We are not surprised that John Deere won this award,” said Scott Crane, president of the United Way of the Quad City Area. “The recognition validates the great work John Deere does in all the communities where it has a presence.”
In 2014, U.S. Deere employees recorded more than 82,000 hours of volunteer support to community organizations and contributions from the company, and the John Deere Foundation totaled nearly $32 million. These activities are estimated to improve the lives of more than 9.5 million people around the world.
