SOURCE:Keep America Beautiful

DESCRIPTION:

August 22, 2018 /3BL Media/ - Keep America Beautiful’s National Awards program annually recognizes and honors its network of community-based affiliates and leading corporate, nonprofit and government agency partners, as well as individual volunteers across the country, for their influence and impact in championing environmentally healthy, socially connected and economically sound communities.

To honor individuals and organizations committed to creating communities that are cleaner, greener and more beautiful places to live, Keep America Beautiful opens the application period for specific categories of its National Awards to the public, while others are offered exclusively to Keep America Beautiful affiliates. The application deadline for all Keep America Beautiful National Awards is Monday, Oct. 15th, 2018, at 11:59 p.m.

The following Keep America Beautiful National Awards are open to the public:

• Lady Bird Award: Given to an outstanding female volunteer for exceptional leadership with at least 10 years of experience in helping her local community.
• Iron Eyes Cody Award: Honors an outstanding male volunteer for exceptional leadership with at least 10 years of experience in helping his local community.
• Carolyn Crayton Award: Recognizes an individual Board member or Board member company (or organization) of a local Keep America Beautiful affiliate for long-standing service to that affiliate.  
• Young Professional Award: Honors an outstanding volunteer, under the age of 40, who demonstrates exceptional leadership in helping his or her community.
• Community Improvement Recognition Awards: Awards will be offered in up to four categories (litter prevention; beautification/greening; recycling/waste reduction; overall community improvement) for businesses, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
• Youth & Education Recognition Awards: Recognizes outstanding youth, schools and educators.
• Law Enforcement Recognition Awards: Recognizes law enforcement professionals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to community service in their approaches to enforcement of environmental laws and regulations.
• Keep America Beautiful Program Awards: Honors a Keep America Beautiful affiliate, business, nonprofit or government agency for Keep America Beautiful program activations (Great American Cleanup, America Recycles Day or Cigarette Litter Prevention Program) that have taken place in the last 12 months.

The following awards are open exclusively to Keep America Beautiful affiliates: Affiliate Awards; Affiliate Innovation Awards; State Affiliate Innovation Awards; Sue Smith Professional Leadership Award; William (Bill) Nash Award; and the Keep America Beautiful State Agency Partnership Award.

For details about how to apply for the Keep America Beautiful National Awards, go to the Annual Awards page on kab.org. All programs and projects submitted for consideration must have taken place within the past 12 months. Any questions about the Keep America Beautiful National Awards program should be directed to National Awards Associate Lauren Conte.

Award winners will be recognized at Keep America Beautiful's National Conference, scheduled to take place Feb. 6-8, 2019, Baltimore, Maryland.

About Keep America Beautiful
Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Celebrating its 65th Anniversary in 2018, Keep America Beautiful strives to End Littering, Improve Recycling and Beautify America’s Communities. We believe everyone has a right to live in a clean, green and beautiful community, and shares a responsibility to contribute to that vision.

Behavior change – steeped in education, research and behavioral science – is the cornerstone of Keep America Beautiful. We empower generations of community and environmental stewards with volunteer programs, hands-on experiences, educational curricula, practical advice and other resources. The organization is driven by the work and passion of more than 600 Keep America Beautiful affiliates, millions of volunteers, and the collaborative support of corporate partners, social and civic service organizations, academia, municipalities, elected officials, and individuals. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Donate and take action at kab.org.

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Tweet me:Call for Entries: #KeepAmericaBeautiful National #Awards application period open for individuals & organizations committed to #DoBeautifulThings. http://bit.ly/2BABTE2 Deadline Oct. 15, 2018.

Contact Info:

Larry Kaufman
Keep America Beautiful
+1 (203) 659-3014
lkaufman@kab.org
http://www.twitter.com/kabtweet
http://www.facebook.com/keepamericabeautiful
http://www.instagram.com/keepamericabeautiful
http://www.youtube.com/kabnetwork

Janessa Rivera
Keep America Beautiful
+1 (203) 659-3064
jrivera@kab.org

KEYWORDS: Keep America Beautiful, national awards, community improvement, #DoBeautifulThings

Trends expert Jacqui Ma works with BACARDÍ® rum and Lonely Whale to look at the obscure trends that haven’t made it to 2018 and reveals the things she believes won’t be around in our future – including plastic straws!

SOURCE:Bacardi Limited

DESCRIPTION:

HAMILTON, Bermuda, August 23, 2018 /3BL Media/ — Today, expert forecaster Jacqui Ma has revealed her predictions for what the future holds when it comes to everyday trends. Remember the days of VHS tapes, MiniDiscs, and fax machines? If you were to show someone born after 2000 any of these antiquated objects, they probably wouldn’t even know what to do with them. But how many of the things we use every day will one day seem impractical, irrelevant, or downright bizarre?

Working alongside BACARDÍ® rum, who has collaborated with the award-winning non-profit organisation Lonely Whale to secure commitments from bars, restaurants and venues in a goal to remove 50 million single-use plastic straws from London this summer by asking them to become 100% single-use plastic straw-free, Jacqui has looked at trend developments throughout the decades and revealed which trends she believes will cease to exist in the future, such as the use of plastic straws, a fashion that only developed in the 1980’s. 

She highlighted trends such as in the early 2000’s mobile phones actually got smaller and smaller until phones were the size of the palm of your hand; now — as mobiles have become our portable mini- computers — it’s normal for phones to come in size XL; it was only 100 years ago that women stopped wearing corsets, before that, for 420 years women would change or constrict their body shapes; and online dating is completely mainstream nowadays, but rewind to early 2000’s and no one would have dared utter the words “we met online.”

Jacqui Ma says, “Everyday things such as not leaving the house without a hat on in the 1950’s, to picking up the receiver of your landline with your rehearsed family greeting in the early 2000’s have all but died out now. This naturally means that in the future we’ll look back on things that existed today and be surprised they existed too, things such as using plastic straws. Plastic straws were a trend that peaked in the 1990’s and over the years activists, experts and organisations have been working to reverse the damage they have contributed to our oceans which is why BACARDÍ rum and Lonely Whale have made a commitment to remove 50 million plastic straws by from London this summer. As the world becomes more environmentally aware, straws will become obsolete.”

Top trends that haven’t made it to 2018 are:

• Landline telephones
• Wearing hats
• Sending faxes and writing letters
• Wearing corsets
• Writing cheques
• Being embarrassed about ‘online dating’
• Smoking inside (including hospitals and places of worship!)
• Shrinking phone sizes

Top trends that won’t make it to the future:

• Physical payment, we’ll become a cashless society
• Using plastic straws
• Physical media such as CD’s and DVD’s
• Petrol and diesel cars
• Dairy
• Shampoo in liquid formats (turns to bars and soaps)
• Fear of eating bugs, our diet will be packed full of creepy crawlies
• Cables for charging/power
• Paper passports

But straws don’t have to be a trend for longer than they need to. BACARDÍ® rum and Lonely Whale have already secured commitments from EDITION Hotels and private members venue The Hospital Club to remove single-use plastic straws from their sites. Soho House previously removed all plastic straws from its sites across the world. At the same time, the rum brand’s parent company Bacardi Limited has committed to review its supply chain to further reduce single-use plastic and increase recyclable and biodegradable plastic and Soho House will be working in partnership with Lonely Whale and Bacardi to remove all single-use plastics from its venues globally.

Additional restaurants, bars and venues can join the movement and consumers can pledge their support by signing to be part of Lonely Whale’s ‘For A Strawless Ocean’ initiative on www.thefuturedoesntsuck.org. Progress can then be tracked across the campaign to witness 50 million removed by the end of summer 2018.

Accompanying images for the trends that trend expert Jacqui Ma highlights are available for download free of charge and of copyright restrictions via this link. 

About BACARDÍ® Rum – The World’s Most Awarded Rum
In 1862, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, founder Don Facundo BACARDÍ Massó revolutionized the spirits industry when he created a light-bodied rum with a particularly smooth taste – BACARDÍ. The unique taste of BACARDÍ rum inspired cocktail pioneers to invent some of the world’s most famous recipes including the BACARDÍ Mojito, the BACARDÍ Daiquirí, the BACARDÍ Cuba Libre, the BACARDÍ® Piña Colada and the BACARDÍ Presidente. BACARDÍ rum is the world’s most awarded spirit, with more than 674 awards for quality, taste and innovation. Today, BACARDÍ rum is made mainly in Puerto Rico where it is crafted to ensure the taste remains the same today as it did when it was first blended in 1862. www.bacardi.com

The BACARDÍ brand is part of the portfolio of Bacardi Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited.

LIVE PASSIONATELY. DRINK RESPONSIBLY.

About Lonely Whale
Lonely Whale is an incubator for courageous ideas that drive impactful change on behalf of our ocean. Inspired by the power of community, Lonely Whale is working towards a new era of radical collaboration, facilitating innovation that pushes the boundary on current trends in technology, media and advocacy to positively impact ocean health. Lonely Whale’s creative efforts to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, ocean-bound plastic pollution have earned them recognition as one of Huffington Post’s Top Ten Movers and Shakers in Environmental Sustainability and Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas as well as honors from the Cannes Lions, Effy, Shorty and ADDY Awards in 2018. For more information, visit www.lonelywhale.org or follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @lonelywhale.

Tweet me:Trends expert Jacqui Ma works with @BacardiLimited and @LonelyWhale to look at the obscure trends that haven’t made it to 2018 and reveals the things she believes won’t be around in our future – including plastic straws! http://bit.ly/2w7bVTw #GoodSpirited #thefuturedoesntsuck

Contact Info:

Steph Cripps at TVC
steph.cripps@tvcgroup.com

Amy Federman
+1 (441) 294-1110
afederman@bacardi.com

KEYWORDS: Bacardi, Lonely Whale, No Straws, Plastic straws, Jacqui Ma, good spirited

by 3p Editors

SOURCE:TriplePundit

DESCRIPTION:

It is an intrinsic part of the contemporary American lifestyle: sturdy and flexible to the touch, the window screen has been playing an essential role in American households for more than century – and transforming living environments ever since.

Most of us, if pressed to describe what it does, would probably call it by its favorite attribute: It’s a bug screen, the last respectable defense between the home and the miniature intruders that lie just beyond our bedroom window and our warm, summer evening comfort.

The window screen is engineered to do more than block out mosquitoes, spiders and pesky flies. It’s a critical part of the ventilation system of a house, particularly in the summer. And when a house – and its windows – are constructed well, those open, protected apertures can often reduce the dependency on high-emissions, expensive air conditioning systems.

We all know that heat rises. But what is often overlooked is that heat doesn’t just rise to the top of a room or a space, it can move all around. This is because warm air has a higher density than cooler air, so it tends to “stack” and fill spaces more efficiently than cool air.

That’s why it’s often hard to cool down a hot room with one large screened window. For the cooler air to enter and the hot air to leave, there must be an exit area that can help displace the hot air. Windows that are designed with two openings, for example, a pull down window at the top and a frame that raises from the bottom are often the most successful means for ventilating a room. These double-hung windows allow the air to circulate and “push” the hot air out, thus making room for a cooler, less dense breeze to enter.

And a home occupant’s own sophisticated cooling system helps. When we sweat, our skin is cooled by that light breeze we feel from a well-ventilated room and the passage of warm air rushing to an open, alternative opening. That is why screens that are made with efficient, light materials that are the least obstructive to air flow are also an essential part of a house’s ventilation system.

Solar screening can block out as much as 90 percent of sunlight and may be ideal for rooms that face hot sunlight in the afternoon. Doing so can keep the room cooler.

Window screens: Design says it all

Today’s ergonomic home relies on lighter and more efficient materials. Finding the right combination of windows and window screens for a house is essential not only to appearance and beauty but to that very purpose that screens fulfill: a comfortably ventilated, easy to operate home that reduces dependency on carbon-emitting technologies.

The finer mesh that is used in many screening products these days offers more light and airflow. At the same time that efficiency helps to keep out tiny bugs that could slip through larger apertures.

Newer technology has led to a number of new concepts in window screening, each with their superior advantage and appeal:

• Removable screens build on the conventional concept of an insect screen: a barrier that can be removed, cleaned and reinserted with minimal work, but keeps a room ventilated and bug-free. Tightly woven mesh that is adapted to meet the lighting demands of the room work best with this kind of screen. And, as explained above, openings work best in pairs, so fitting a room with more than one window that can let the room ventilate is ideal with these kinds of screens.
• Larger screen doors that allow for passage in and out of a room (such as a dining room or an atrium) keep bugs out but without impeding air flow. Newer models are made with the convenient feature of a self-closing track to ensure the screen isn’t accidentally left open.
• Retractable screens that work in synchrony with the window and allow for free-flowing air when the window is open and disappears from sight when it’s closed are great for are great for homeowners seeking easy-to-use solutions. Requiring no storage, little cleaning, they are often the most efficient when it comes to cooling down a room quickly and economically by allowing cooler air to enter and warmer air at the top of the room exit.

Efficient window screening that increases light in the room, is made from finer mesh, and is more durable works in tandem with well-built, leak-free windows. Picking the right window design and set-up for your home that allows for proper air flow is an essential part of reducing cost and increasing your home’s energy efficiency.

This article series is sponsored by Pella Windows and Doors and went through our normal editorial review process. 

Tweet me:Learn now the right screen can increase a home's #energyefficiency http://bit.ly/2w4Rgzu via @triplepundit @Pella_News #PellaInspired

SOURCE:Verizon

DESCRIPTION:

All across the U.S. this week, kids arriving for their first day of school are being met with cheers, applause and high fives. It’s part of a nationwide “Clap-In” given by Verizon employees to welcome students into Verizon Innovative Learning, a transformative program that gives a free tablet and internet access to every student and teacher, and provides extensive teacher training, support, and a unique, immersive curriculum.

The program, launched in 2012, has reached 74 schools and more than 43,000 students. This year it expands to 100 schools. Fifty-eight Verizon Innovative Learning schools, in or near cities such as Atlanta, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisville, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Washington, DC and more, are welcoming students back to the cheers of more than 1,200 Verizon employee volunteers.

“We want students, their families and the school community to know that we’re rooting for them and we encourage them as they experience this new way of learning,” said Deirdre Robinson, director of marketing and employee engagement for the Verizon Foundation. “It’s part of our company’s DNA to give back. We’re doing this not only by building innovative education programs and working with leading nonprofit partners to deliver them to under-funded schools, but also by showing up in person as volunteers, mentors, and even cheerleaders, to support our students and communities.”

Verizon Innovative Learning

Millions of American students lack the access to technology and the skills they need to succeed in the digital world¹. Since 2012, Verizon has been working to help solve this problem holistically through a transformative program called Verizon Innovative Learning.

Verizon Innovative Learning provides free technology, free internet access, and hands-on learning experiences to help give under-resourced students the education they deserve. Powered by a next-gen, technology-infused curriculum that fundamentally changes the way teachers teach and students learn, Verizon Innovative Learning is giving kids the ability to do more in this world. Students are showing improvement in math and reading², and they’re more engaged in school³.

¹Pew Research Center Analysis of 2013 American Community Survey (IPUMS).

²Westat March 15, 2017 Research.

³Across all VIL programs that reported data in 2017.

Tweet me:Three cheers for our best and brightest! Students in #VerizonInnovativeLearning schools are welcomed back to school with cheers and high fives. http://bit.ly/2wnY3Ua

KEYWORDS: NYSE:VZ, Verizon, Verizon Innovative Learning

SOURCE:Walmart

DESCRIPTION:

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 23, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Today, Walmart announced that the company has hired more than 206,000 veterans and promoted more than 30,000 to roles with higher pay and greater responsibility since launching its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment in May 2013. The commitment guarantees a job offer to any eligible, honorably discharged U.S. veteran who has separated from service since the commitment was announced on Memorial Day 2013. Walmart is now more than 80 percent of the way to reaching its goal to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020.*

Approximately 1,300 veterans and their families return to civilian life every day, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Veterans possess important skills and leadership abilities that make them highly sought-after job candidates. The Veterans Welcome Home Commitment helps veterans find career opportunities at Walmart and aims to ease the sometimes-difficult transition from active duty to civilian life. 

As we approach the Labor Day holiday, I’m reminded that work is a beautiful thing, and for transitioning veterans, finding that sense of purpose is often lost after separation from service. Veterans shouldn’t have to worry about finding employment, so Walmart is here to help service members figure out their new path through civilian life and, for many, start their careers as we’ve seen with the 30,000 promoted since the launch of the Commitment.

In May 2013, Walmart introduced the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment with an initial goal to hire 100,000 veterans by the end of 2018. In May 2015, Walmart revised its goal to hire 250,000 veterans, including veterans hired within the Welcome Home Commitment as well as other veterans hired by Walmart, by the end of 2020. Walmart also changed the eligibility under the Welcome Home Commitment from within 12 months of active duty, to any veteran who has been honorably discharged since the announcement of the commitment in May 2013.

Walmart’s military programs not only focus on transitioning veterans, but also those currently serving and military spouses. The Military Family Promise guarantees a job at a nearby store or club for all military personnel and military spouses employed by the company who move to a different part of the country because they or their spouse have been transferred by the U.S. military. The policy allows service members and military spouses to remain in the same personnel and pay systems and gives them the opportunity to turn jobs into careers.

To strengthen support of veterans as they reintegrate into their local communities, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation committed to investing $20 million over five years beginning in 2011, in job training, education and innovative public/private community-based initiatives. After fulfilling the $20 million commitment early in 2015, they announced an additional $20 million investment. While Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have completed the $40 million commitment, they continue to make investments that strengthen systems and communities to help our military, veterans and their families navigate the wide array of resources available to them at all stages of their service journey.

For more information about Walmart’s Veterans Welcome Home Commitment and overall support to veterans, service members and military families, please visit www.walmartcareerswithamission.com.

*Editor’s Note
These projections and reported hires/promotions include veterans hired under our original and expanded Welcome Home Commitment as well as other veterans hired by Walmart in this time frame. While we think it is particularly important to support soldiers as they make the transition to civilian life, Walmart believes all veterans deserve our respect and support, no matter when they left active duty.

About Walmart
Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, nearly 265 million customers and members visit our more than 11,200 stores under 55 banners in 27 countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2018 revenue of $500.3 billion, Walmart employs over 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://corporate.walmart.com, on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmartand on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart.

Tweet me:.@Walmart has hired more than 206,000 #veterans and promoted more than 30,000 to roles with higher pay and greater responsibility since the launch of its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment http://bit.ly/2Px2gh2

KEYWORDS: Walmart, Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, military spouses

Inspired by UNICEF's commitment to education, innovative thinking and community-based approach to delivering learning to Syria's children, our Foundation has contributed $100,000 to support UNICEF's Self-Learning Program.

SOURCE:Avery Dennison

DESCRIPTION:

The Avery Dennison Foundation focuses its giving in three core areas: Sustainability, Education, and Women’s Empowerment. In many cases, our giving is inspired by employees who recommend organizations for grants, which allows the Foundation to connect our employees’ charitable interests with the company’s philanthropy.

Last year, a group of employees in Europe reached out to the Foundation with a desire to support children disproportionately impacted by global conflicts. The Foundation recognized the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its efforts in providing ongoing, regular access to education for the millions of school-aged children in Syria whose education has been affected by the country’s eight-year civil war.

While Avery Dennison does not have a location in Syria, the Foundation has contributed $100,000 to UNICEF to support its Self-Learning Program in Syria. The Foundation was inspired by UNICEF’s commitment to education, innovative thinking, and community-based approach to delivering learning to Syria’s children.  

Tweet me:Keeping the dream of education alive amid conflict | @AveryDennison http://www.averydennison.com/en/home/newsroom/avery-dennison-blog/Corporate-Blog/keeping-the-dream-of-education-alive-amid-conflict.html #sustainability

KEYWORDS: NYSE:AVY, Avery Dennison

SOURCE:EDF+Business

DESCRIPTION:

We recently heard from Mars, Incorporated’s chief procurement and sustainability officer, Barry Parkin, about the company’s plan to tackle its ambitious climate goals in an EDF+Business “Business of Sustainability” podcast. Their Sustainable in a Generation plan details Mars’ commitment to procure 100 percent renewable energy. Mars is plowing full speed ahead toward these goals and recently, Mars Australia signed 20-year power purchase agreements (PPA) to generate the equivalent of 100 percent of Mars’ electricity from renewable energy by 2020.

As a manager of EDF+Business’ carbon and energy supply chain initiatives, I wanted to learn more about Mars’ approach to meeting its renewable energy goals. What I like about Mars is that they are always willing to share their tips and best practices so that other companies can learn how to start mitigating their impact on the environment. So, I sat down with Mars’ renewable energy manager, Winston Chen – who has been with the company for 15 years – to learn more about their renewable energy strategy and what other companies can learn from being innovative when looking for ways to decarbonize the energy they need to make their products.

Here are the main takeaways from my discussion with Winston:

A comprehensive sustainability plan integrates energy efficiency with renewable energy strategies.

For a company that has been growing quickly over the last few years, it can be a challenge to achieve absolute reductions in its overall carbon footprint. As the sixth largest privately held company in the U.S., Mars has over 50 factories just in the U.S. and it is constantly expanding with manufacturing facilities, offices and retail locations in almost every country in the world. Strong growth, however, didn’t stop Mars from setting an ambitious target to eliminate fossil fuel energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from global operations by 2040.

Winston told me that in order to manage the company’s growth year after year while also meeting its sustainability goals, Mars has to invest significantly in both energy efficiency and renewable energy, which they do through a four-pronged strategy:

1. Technology upgrades: Mars looks for ways to reduce energy demand through adoption of more energy-efficient technologies. This includes low-hanging fruit such as lighting upgrades, but also more capital-intensive upgrades to manufacturing equipment.
2. Operational excellence: Ultimately, energy demand not only depends on the efficiency of the technology but how it is used on the factory floor; so Mars works with its employees to optimize the operation of energy-using equipment to minimize waste while improving productivity.
3. Process design innovation: Reinventing how things are made can reduce energy demand. Mars invests in innovation to rethink its manufacturing processes – for instance, in its baking and drying processes to make pet food – to minimize energy use.
4. Renewable energy: Mars also looks for solutions to decarbonize its energy supply, working with developers and utilities to procure renewable energy through PPAs.

While Winston says that renewable energy projects can be easier to implement, it doesn’t make sense for a company to only focus on renewables. He told me it is important to think about the whole picture of a company’s environmental footprint.

“It has to be a balance. We don’t want to take the easy way out. It’s easy to sign another PPA contract and not focus on our own facilities and processes to reduce our actual energy consumption,” Winston said. “That last part is the most critical component of the strategy.”

Mars’ goal is to reduce its energy intensity on an annualized basis by roughly 2 percent to mitigate the overall increase of its carbon footprint because of business growth.

Finding new ways to become more energy efficient is smart business for any company. With technologies widely available on the market to help companies innovate and save energy, solutions that benefit bottom lines and mitigate environmental impact abound. For example, an overwhelming majority of executives at top companies say they are using innovative technologies to drive profitability and environmental performance, according to a recent EDF survey. More than 70 percent of executives surveyed said their business and environmental goals are more closely aligned than they were just five years ago, primarily due to advances in technology.

Collaborating for scale leads to innovation and a more sustainable supply chain.

Companies have a number of options for procuring renewable power including investing capital to install onsite renewable energy projects. I asked Winston why Mars prefers using PPAs, which account for almost all of its renewable energy investments. One of my favorite moments from my conversation with Winston was when he stated, “Mars is good at making chocolate and pet food, but we’re not an expert in producing power.”

Leaving energy production to the pros, Mars is able to scale the renewable portion of its energy supply quickly by partnering with other investors in large projects – such as a 60-megawatt wind project in Scotland – that will produce enough power to cover all of Mars’ annual electricity demand in the United Kingdom.

Mars’s PPA strategy has been to focus on its biggest markets first – which it has done over the past five years. This included supporting projects in the United States first, followed by the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, France, Poland, Spain and Belgium.

Sustainable companies attract customers, please employees, aid recruiting and burnish reputations.

This insight is perhaps the best takeaway from my discussion with Winston. He explains it perfectly in this quote:

“In today’s world, more and more people are focusing on making a lot of money but they’re not doing the right thing in terms of minimizing their impact on the environment. This is a big risk to a company’s reputation. I truly believe our renewable energy investments have actually improved our company’s standing in the world in terms of being a sustainable and responsible company.That’s very important to us, not just from a customer standpoint, but also because our associates care about what we can do as a company to minimize our impact.”

Tweet me:Curious how the makers of M&M’s (@MarsGlobal) source #renewableenergy? @EDFbiz's @GrazSiciliano interviewed Mars' Winston Chen to find out! Here are her takeaways #sustainability #FansofWind http://bit.ly/2wmS0zh

KEYWORDS: M&M’s Source Renewable Energy, Mars, EDF+Business, sustainable supply chains, M&M’S

Companies can now engage employees in Germany with a localized “Goodness” experience, plus more international languages, support and currency options

SOURCE:Benevity

DESCRIPTION:

CALGARY, Alberta August 23, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Benevity, Inc., the global leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee engagement software, announced the latest expansion to its market-leading international offering. Companies in Germany are now able to use Benevity to engage people in local volunteering and tax-receiptable giving to German charities as a way to build a more purpose-driven and socially responsible corporate culture. This enhancement builds on the success of the widely adopted international corporate giving solution Benevity OneWorld™, which is gaining rapid adoption amongst enterprise companies with distributed workforces and a global customer base.

“Today’s global businesses are wrestling with the complexities of building an inclusive and unified corporate culture as a vital source of productivity and success. Providing people with an easy and engaging way to do good by giving time, talent, money and other resources—and taking action on social and environmental issues—is a proven engagement driver for a geographically dispersed workforce,” said Bryan de Lottinville, Founder and CEO of Benevity. “With an increasingly competitive talent market and data that suggests relatively low levels of employee engagement in Germany, Benevity is pleased to provide companies with a holistic enterprise solution that has the power to attract and engage employees and unify their people and broader stakeholders through a shared sense of purpose and a culture of giving back.” 

Benevity is also enhancing the local experience for users in Europe with German language support and dedicated client service for companies operating on European time zones. Additionally, four new currencies have been added to the Benevity platform—the Philippine Piso, South African Rand, Japanese Yen and Singapore Dollar—providing people who donate in any of 10 international currencies with the ability to get a donation acknowledgement or charitable tax receipt in their currency. 

A study by Cone Communications found that 67% of companies give internationally and those companies are expected to increase their global donations by 25% over the next two fiscal years. This trend has been observed at Benevity with 35% growth in the number of companies using their Goodness programs to support globally distributed workforces and charity partners in just the first 8 months of 2018. 

Available in 17 languages, Benevity OneWorld enables companies to empower employees, consumers and the public to easily donate time, money and talent to almost 2 million charities and nonprofits around the world. Through its proprietary disbursement platform, Benevity delivers 100% of funds electronically to international causes providing global enterprises and their employees with certainty that corporate grants and individual donations are reaching their intended recipients in a timely and accurate manner. This latest launch adds to Benevity’s robust suite of fully localized experiences for companies with people in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Canada, Australia, India, Singapore and the United States. 

Benevity continues to maintain best-in class processes, controls and governance and recently implemented measures and changes to its policies to help global companies remain compliant with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as applicable privacy guidelines and regulations in the regions in which they operate.

About Benevity
Benevity, Inc., a B Corporation, is the global leader in online workplace giving, matching, volunteering and community investment software. Many of the world’s most iconic brands rely on Benevity’s award-winning cloud solutions to power corporate “Goodness” programs that attract, retain and engage today’s diverse workforce by connecting people to the causes that matter to them. With software that is available in 17 languages, to more than four million users around the world, Benevity has processed over 2 billion dollars in donations and 10 million hours of volunteering time this year to almost 150,000 charities worldwide.

Media Contact
Amanda Orr
Kickstart for Benevity
1.202.459.1304
press@benevity.com

Tweet me:Wunderbar! @benevity expands their international #CSR capabilities yet again. Companies can now engage employees in Germany with a localized “Goodness” experience... plus MORE international languages, support and currency options. #ForGoodnessSake http://bit.ly/2NetLuA

KEYWORDS: benevity, Global Giving, international giving, purpose-driven culture, corporate giving, workplace giving

SOURCE:Booz Allen Hamilton

DESCRIPTION:

Move over Shark Tank—Booz Allen’s Summer Games interns are budding entrepreneurs in their own right. Whether the solution is a modular, cost-effective reconnaissance drone, a mixed-reality airmanship training application, or a browser extension that detects fake news, the firm’s interns are taking their innovative ideas to the next level.

After 10 weeks of intense collaboration as nearly 400 interns researched, developed, and designed functional client solutions, it was crunch time. In mid-August, more than 80 intern teams presented their projects to a panel of senior leaders at Booz Allen. Ten teams advanced to the final round, and one team won the coveted Challenge Cup.

Learn more about the winning team’s solution in their own words:

Customized Drone Harnesses Machine Learning for Quicker Decision Making

“We designed, fabricated, tested, and validated an unmanned aviation system, or drone, that can provide instant aerial reconnaissance for our nation’s warfighters,” says Robyn Kincade of the Huntsville, Alabama-based team.

Dubbed Yellowhammer, the drone integrates machine learning algorithms and intelligence capabilities. It’s a simple, plastic device that warfighters can transport in their backpacks—and they can assemble it quickly, without tools. “With a 3D printed frame and print-on-demand replacement parts, Yellowhammer is cost effective and can be snapped together in less than 4 minutes,” says Catherine Henderson. Her teammate Bradley Evans adds, “At less than 5 pounds, and about the volume of a basketball, the parts can easily fit into a standard military rucksack.”

Most conventional drones stream full-motion video, so limited bandwidth and connectivity hampers the ability to receive and analyze data—but Yellowhammer operates a bit differently. “With onboard image processing and object classification, our drone sends back still images within minutes, for quicker intel and decision making,” says Phillip Davignon.

In addition to helping the warfighter, the team envisions expanding the drone’s software to aid other mission-critical work. “Customized drones could be used for search and rescue, disaster relief operations, firefighting, and more,” adds Ryan Fernandez. “No matter who we’re helping, Yellowhammer saves time, money, and—most importantly—lives.”

As the summer draws to a close, Booz Allen will say goodbye to all of the doers, drivers, and dreamers that made up this year’s Summer Games internship program. The projects that these interns invented over past few months will go on to be further evaluated for client application with the possibility of further development by the interns that transition into full-time employees.

Are you ready to join them… and empower people to change the world? Learn more about Booz Allen’s Summer Games internship program, here.

Tweet me:Interns win with #ArtificialIntelligence #drone for reconnaissance at @BoozAllen’s Summer Games http://bit.ly/2OXOSS4 #AI

KEYWORDS: NYSE:BAH, Booz Allen Hamilton, Artificial Intelligence, Drone, summer games, Internships

A new SCE course brings together local representatives to work with first responders.

SOURCE:Edison International

DESCRIPTION:

In 2015, when the call came in of an oil spill off of Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County, emergency officials immediately leaped into action.

Santa Barbara County’s Office of Emergency Management, Plains All American Pipeline, Southern California Edison, the U.S. Coast Guard, California Department of Fish & Wildlife and a host of local, state and federal agencies responded. They organized under the Incident Command System, an organizational structure used across the country to respond to wildfires, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.

It was during the after-action review that Robert Lewin, Santa Barbara County’s director of emergency management, realized there was a disconnect during the response between the command structure and non-governmental organizations like environmental groups.

“They had a clear ability to assist, but didn’t know how to plug in,” he said. 

Lewin thought the non-governmental organizations should be included in the incident management process and would fit best in the role of agency representative — basically a liaison between their organization and the incident management team.

He knew SCE had been doing extensive Incident Command System staff training to respond to emergencies and asked if the utility could modify its course to cover the basics for outside groups and city and county government staff.

The first class was in Santa Barbara in June, 2017, followed two months later by another session in Ventura County. This year, SCE taught the class in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and has a course scheduled for the California Utilities Emergency Association in September.

Thomas Jacobus, SCE’s principal manager of business resiliency, said what started as an experiment has proven to be invaluable.

“It builds better relationships, closer relationships between SCE and its emergency partners so that in a response, we won’t be meeting for the first time and have to exchange business cards to know who we’ll be working with,” he said.

The class is also aimed at helping nonprofits, volunteers and other non-emergency organizations navigate what can be a daunting command structure and alphabet soup of acronyms commonly used by SCE and emergency services during a response.

“We don’t want you to sit at an EOC (emergency operations center) and have no clue what is being talked about or what your role is,” said Ranger Dorn, the class instructor and a 42-year veteran of the fire service and the Incident Command System.

Representatives of non-emergency groups at the recent Los Angeles class included California State University, Northridge and the Los Angeles County’s Access paratransit service.

In addition to teaching the basic structure, language and who’s who of the Incident Command System, the class also has breakout sessions for attendees to work through real-life scenarios they might face.

For example, scenarios at the recent Los Angeles class included a power outage at a hospital that extended eight blocks around the medical facility and a wildfire on the border of two counties that required a hazardous materials response.

Lewin said the training and the opportunity for SCE and various agencies and non-governmental groups to know each other and become familiar with each other’s operations has had an immediate payoff in terms of closer communication and coordination.

“The Thomas Fire came on the heels of the training,” he said. “It was obvious to us and SCE agency representatives that the training was of real value.”

Tweet me:New emergency response course for @SCE brings together local representatives to work with #firstresponders http://bit.ly/2MGdxNB #naturaldisasters #emergencypreparedness

KEYWORDS: Southern California Edison, Edison International, first responders, Emergency Preparedness, natural disasters, Santa Barbara

SOURCE:Hallmark Corporation

DESCRIPTION:

In 2017, Hallmark and its businesses contributed nearly $11 million in product and financial contributions to non- profit
organizations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific and Europe. At the same time, employees at all levels of the organization volunteered their time and talents to provide more than 53,000 hours of volunteer service — nearly two hours for every one of its world- wide employees. This past year showed Hallmark and its employees leading by example as the No. 1 contributor to the annual United Way campaign for the Kansas City region. In addition, corporate and employee gifts were contributed in support of several disaster relief efforts, and Hallmark’s “Care Enough” campaign spotlighted acts of kindness to inspire and encourage others.
 

Download and read our full 2017 Caring In Action Report here.

Tweet me:.@Hallmark from the Caring Action report: In 2017, Hallmark and its businesses contributed nearly $11 million in product and financial contributions to non-profit organizations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia-Pacific and Europe. http://bit.ly/2BHqsdW

KEYWORDS: Caring in Action, Hallmark, Donations, csr

by Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk

SOURCE:Mohawk Industries

DESCRIPTION:

Tweet me:WATCH: @DesignMilk talks to Royce Epstein + George Bandy Jr. of @MohawkGroup about the new Nutopia carpet plank collection, urban connectivity, #biophilicdesign and sustainable manufacturing http://bit.ly/2BmFhCG #sustainability

KEYWORDS: Design Milk, Nutopia, mohawk group

SOURCE:Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

DESCRIPTION:

The Technical University of Denmark conducts research in bioinformatics and systems biology—fields that employ powerful computers to explore biological data.

After the university installed the fastest high-performance supercomputer in Denmark, the runtime for data-intensive medical research was reduced by nearly one-third. This substantial gain is made possible by HPE Next Generation Sequencing Solution, which helps reduce the processing time for data-heavy genome analytics, ultimately speeding up the pace of medical discovery.

“We found we could do the analysis in 60% less time. That’s the time it takes to transfer the data from one university to another. The cloud automated everything, and the data is now always available and analyzed in one place.” Peter Løngreen, Acting Deputy Director, Center for Biological Sequence Analysis, Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark

Read more about how HPE is harnessing IT for a better world in the new Living Progress Report

Tweet me:The Technical University of Denmark conducts research in bioinformatics and systems biology—fields that employ powerful computers to explore biological data. Learn more: @HPE @HPE_LivingProg #LivingProgress http://bit.ly/2LfTSiR

KEYWORDS: Technical University of Denmark, Living Progress, bioinformatics and systems biology, biological data, sustainability

SOURCE:Caterpillar Inc.

DESCRIPTION:

Click here to see how Caterpillar helps customers use less fuel and generate fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These customer needs provide business opportunities for Caterpillar.

Tweet me:.@CaterpillarInc develops products that help customers use less fuel and generate fewer GHG emissions. #sustainability http://bit.ly/2nmoJki

KEYWORDS: Caterpillar, autonomy, autonomous vehicles, Australia, Fortescue Metals Group, NYSE:CAT, Carbon Emissions

A statement from Dean Seavers, President of National Grid, US

SOURCE:National Grid

DESCRIPTION:

“National Grid believes significant and urgent action is needed to combat climate change and has long supported reasonable decarbonization policies and strategies – including the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate Accord,” said Dean Seavers, president of National Grid, US.  “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining affordability and resiliency, is paramount for National Grid.”

Seavers continued: “As one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, the impacts of climate change are central to our business and infrastructure planning.  We view this matter as one of the greatest challenges of our time.  As such, we have stepped up our collaborative efforts with customers, industry partners, advocates and policymakers to accelerate the ongoing economy-wide clean energy transition.”

“Consistent with our Northeast 80×50 Pathway, we have adopted our service territories’ targets, in NY, MA, and RI, to lower the carbon emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050 in the power, transportation, and heating sectors.  During the rulemaking process to revise the Clean Power Plan, we look forward to working with the Environmental Protection Agency, our states, and stakeholders to advance the decarbonization of our energy networks.”

To see the full version of National Grid’s Northeast 80x50 Pathway, please visit http://bit.ly/80x2050. 

Tweet me:A statement from @DeanSeaversNG, President of National Grid, US on the #CleanPowerPlan http://bit.ly/2LhPPTa #80x50Pathway #energy #sustainability @nationalgridus

KEYWORDS: Clean Power Plan, sustainability, 80x50 pathway, national grid US, reducing greenhouse gas emissions

SOURCE:America's Charities

DESCRIPTION:

Just outside of Baltimore, MD, a new technology startup company, called Pinkaloo, is helping set the stage for a more modern way for employees to give through the workplace.

In a joint press release earlier this month, Pinkaloo announced its partnership with America's Charities to bring employers and their employees a new workplace giving option known as the America’s Charities Modern Giving Solution, which is powered by Pinkaloo's technology platform.

Gideon Taub, CEO of Pinkaloo, founded the company on the idea that charitable giving funds should be able to be set aside and supported as part of the process of getting paid, like a health savings account. 

In addition to Pinkaloo's partnership with America's Charities, the startup also recently announced its partnership with payroll services provider ADP and it's participation as one of 10 companies that began the D.C.–based PeaceTech Accelerator earlier this summer. 

You can read more about Pinkaloo and its new partners in this Technical.ly article.

Tweet me:.@AmerCharities: How new tech startup @Pinkalootech is using its platform to personalize charitable giving at work https://impact.ac/2BF57lf #workplacegiving #EmployeeEngagement #HR #ModernGiving

KEYWORDS: America’s Charities, workplace giving, employee giving, Corporate Social Responsibility, csr, charity vetting, payroll deduction giving, Fundraising, #SDGs, Pinkaloo, Modern Giving solution

SOURCE:VMware

DESCRIPTION:

At VMware, we recognize that all parts of our business have an impact — from the products we create and the people we employ to our environmental footprint. We are striving to have a net positive impact by putting back more than we take and involving all parts of our business in the challenge. We’ve set ambitious goals to scale our global impact, and we know that every action counts. The stories told in our 2017 Global Impact Report demonstrate our commitment to “leaving ahead” a better future by highlighting our progress in 2017 to drive environmental and social impact in support of our business and 2020 goals:

Product: 

• Incorporate sustainability into every product release by focusing on solutions that help customers positively impact the environment and society.
• Deliver technology that provides customers and partners with data that enable informed choices around cleaner clouds.
• Integrate sustainability into our customer experience.

Planet: 

• Commit to a science-based target for our global carbon emissions reduction.
• Reach 100 percent renewable energy for our global operations and carbon neutrality.
• Institute aggressive water conservation in the water-stressed regions within our portfolio.
• Achieve over 90 percent waste diversion globally and zero e-waste to landfill from our operations.
• Procure 50 percent of our business operations from diverse, sustainable and socially responsible suppliers.

People: 

• Increase our representation of women and underrepresented groups so that we reflect the communities we live in and serve; inspire and support the broader community of women and diverse talent in technology.
• Create a vibrant employee experience that promotes innovation and ingenuity and connects employees across our global community.
• Develop global environmental and social responsibility programs that bridge work and home and help employees incorporate wellness and sustainability into their lives.
• Inspire over 85 percent of our global employees to give back in their communities. 

Since our founding in 1998, we have been driven by the desire to challenge the status quo. We believe that software has the power to unlock new opportunities for organizations, people and the planet, and we are committed to creating transformative technology to power a better future. Our pioneering virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions have transformed data centers and continue to power the apps, services and experiences that are changing the world.

To learn more, read our 2017 Global Impact Report here.

Tweet me:INFOGRAPHIC: @VMware reports on progress towards #sustainability 2020 goals, reporting 84M MT CO2e avoided through products and 77% of global ops powered by #renewableenergy http://bit.ly/2Pv8kqs #ForceForGood

KEYWORDS: VMware, force for good, landfill diversion, Infographic

SOURCE:Whirlpool Corporation

DESCRIPTION:

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., August 23, 2018 /3BL Media/ – Whirlpool Corporation will be on the front lines of home-building projects in the Midwest, as part of Habitat for Humanity’s 35th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project.

By working alongside Habitat homeowners in Mishawaka and South Bend, Indiana, Whirlpool Corporation hopes to make a critical difference for individuals and their communities alike. Habitat for Humanity’s Carter Work Project will see hundreds of volunteers – including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn – working side-by-side with homeowners to build, repair or improve 41 homes as part of the project.

“On behalf of all our over 4000 employees and full-time contractors located in our headquarter community in Southwest Michigan, we are thrilled to celebrate the continuation of our partnership with Habitat for Humanity and to again participate in the Jimmy Carter Work Project,” said Jeff Noel, corporate vice president of communications & public affairs for Whirlpool Corporation. “For nearly two decades, our organization and employees have been dedicated to improving people’s everyday lives through our collaboration with Habitat for Humanity. We have continued to see the ongoing impact from the Jimmy Carter Work Project in Benton Harbor from the 1995 build and are honored to participate in this year’s build in which the positive impact on people and community will last for generations.”

In addition to supporting Habitat’s Carter Work Project, Whirlpool Corporation will be sending 75 employees to assist with the build. In more than 18 years of partnership with Habitat for Humanity, Whirlpool has developed active programs in more than 45 countries with a commitment of more than $107 million. In the United States and Canada, the company has donated more than 191,000 ranges and refrigerators to new Habitat homes, serving more than 100,000 families. Additionally, Whirlpool has donated more than 42,000 products to Habitat ReStore retail outlets, helping raise nearly $5.7 million. The company has engaged thousands of employee volunteers, sponsored nearly 180 homes and donated products to more than 76,000 Habitat families Europe, Middle East and Africa. Whirlpool plans to support the work of Habitat around the world through product donations, financial contribution and/or volunteerism.

Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County, which will host the project, has a long history of creating opportunities for new and current homeowners to build a safe and decent place to call home. Since 1987, Habitat of St. Joseph County has helped more than 400 families build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. The local organization mobilizes volunteers and community partners to build affordable housing and promote homeownership.

Since 1984, President and Mrs. Carter have traveled around the world with Habitat to build and improve homes. Their time and effort help to raise awareness of the critical need for affordable home ownership around the world. Inspiring millions over the last three decades, President and Mrs. Carter have worked alongside 101,276 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair more than 4,290 homes.

To donate or learn more about the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, visit habitat.org/cwp.

About Whirlpool Corporation  

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is the world’s leading major home appliance company, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 92,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2017. The company markets Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, Jenn-Air, Indesit and other major brand names in nearly every country throughout the world. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com, or find us on Twitter at @WhirlpoolCorp.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in local communities across all 50 states in the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

Tweet me:Whirlpool Corporation volunteers will join in home-building efforts as part of Habitat for Humanity’s 35th Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project @WhirlpoolCorp http://bit.ly/2Pz4UmL

KEYWORDS: whirlpool corporation, Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project, Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County, NYSE:WHR

SOURCE:Sea Change Radio

DESCRIPTION:

There is no silver bullet to solve the intractable problem of global warming. Nevertheless, there is a lot of vital and hopeful work being done to chip away at the mountain of problems human beings have wreaked on this planet. This week on Sea Change Radio, we look at two innovative ideas that are moving us in a hopeful direction. First, we speak to Ian Power, an assistant professor at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, who is working on a breakthrough in manufacturing a CO2-absorbing mineral called magnesite in a fraction of the time that it forms in nature. We discuss his team’s research, learn about the methods they used, and talk about this unusual mineral’s potential to fight climate change. Then, we revisit a 2017 interview with the CEO of Zero Mass Water, Cody Friesen, to learn about his company’s promising technology that uses special solar panels to transform humidity in the air into clean drinking water.

Tweet me:This wk's @SeaChangeRadio - very interesting discussion with Prof. Ian Power about his team's breakthrough research involving carbon-storing mineral named magnesite which they can form in a lab in 70 days instead of thousands of years. http://www.cchange.net/2018/08/21/ian/

KEYWORDS: CO2-absorbing mineral, sea change radio, magnesite, Ian Power, Zero Mass Water

SOURCE:21st Century Fox

DESCRIPTION:

In response to 2017’s series of devastating and unprecedented natural disasters, including hurricanes that affected over 25 million people, 21st Century Fox is preparing for forthcoming natural disasters this year by donating $1 million to the American Red Crossand the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. The contribution will support the two organizations’ capacity-building, preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts for 2018, as deadly wildfires continue tearing through California and coastal regions begin fortifying themselves ahead of hurricane season.

At a time when rapid onset disasters are occurring more and more frequently, corporate support is critical to ensuring relief organizations have the resources needed for on-the-ground recovery work. To that end, 21CF is not only reimagining its own efforts, but is also among the first to pledge collaboration with other companies in the industry though the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s newly-announced disaster response program, Music for Relief. The initiative brings together humanitarian organizations and an advisory council to provide expert guidance and resources from the creative community within 48 hours of a natural disaster.

Additionally, 21CF’s partnership with the American Red Cross will carry over to Fox Networks’ fall premieres. Dramas 9-1-1 and The Resident will promote a series of activations to raise viewer awareness and funds from now through September’s National Preparedness Month and October’s National Fire Prevention Week. Currently, 9-1-1 cast PSAs are running online to encourage viewers to give blood during the summer, when donations drop but need is high.

As a global brand, the company is committed to supporting its people around the world, and after the massive tragic floods that ravaged the Indian state of Kerala in August, 21CF’s STAR India has already donated over $700,000 to the state’s relief fund. In addition, colleague donations will be matched by both STAR and 21CF, tripling the amount and impact of every contribution, and the network will rally public support by airing the #AllForKeralacampaign in 8 languages across 50 channels and digital streaming platform, Hotstar.

21F has a longstanding commitment to rallying colleagues and audiences alike in support of local relief and recovery efforts. Last year, the company matched employee donations, made its own large-scale corporate contribution, and provided direct financial assistant to colleagues—amounting to $1.5 million in total for the communities devastated by Hurricanes Harvey, Maria, and Irma, and the earthquake in Mexico City. 21CF also brought together its media brands, including Fox Networks and FOX Sports, in promoting and fundraising for the relief organizations. Marking one year since the deadly hurricanes, 21CF is now sponsoring National Geographic Photo Camps in Houston and Puerto Rico to empower students from underserved communities to tell their stories of life after the disaster.

Tweet me:.@21CF_Impact invests in natural disaster preparedness with $1mm donation to @RedCross and @funds4disaster http://bit.ly/2Psiet7

KEYWORDS: American Red Cross, natural disaster relief, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, 21st Century Fox Social Impact, NYSE:FOX, 21st century fox