Comcast Cares Day: Making Change And Making History

Comcast Cares Day is my favorite day of the year, and I know it is for so many of our employees, too. That’s because it gives all of us the chance each spring to give back even more to the communities we support year-round. I’m thrilled to announce that on this last Comcast Cares Day we trumped every company record created since we launched this annual celebration of service in 2001:

• We had participation from more than 100,000 volunteers, including our employees, their friends and families, and nonprofit organizations and their members and supporters.

• We made change happen at more than 900 project sites, from painting an 80-foot community mural in Seattle’s Chinatown, to helping to rebuild an Illinois town decimated by a tornado, to creating a learning garden to give New Jersey families in need more access to fresh produce.

• Thanks to NBCUniversal, our volunteer efforts stretched around the globe to 21 additional countries, including Brazil, France, Mexico, and Singapore.

With the tremendous success of this year, we have surpassed 4 million hours of volunteer time donated throughout the history of Comcast Cares Day.

To reach these milestones, we partnered with nonprofit organizations, big and small, in hundreds of communities. We teamed up with our national partners to maximize the difference we make. This year, we joined forces with Boys & Girls Clubs on 50 projects, National Urban League affiliates on 16 projects, and local National Council of La Raza community organizations on 16 projects. Fifteen projects benefitted from the skills and talents of 1,640 City Year corps members.

Jennifer Cairns, executive director of the Sarah Heinz House Boys & Girls Club in Pittsburgh told us that the "sweat equity" we provided at her Club on Comcast Cares Day meant completing work that would have taken them months. It also enables the Club to put more money into programming to benefit the 3,200 kids served by the Club each year. Such meaningful and long-term benefits are part of why we value Comcast Cares Day, which is the largest single-day corporate volunteer event in the country.

I hope you watch this video to see how Comcast Cares Day aids people in need, while providing a chance for our work families to meet our real families. Employees often tell me they are grateful for Comcast Cares Day because of the opportunity to teach their children the importance of giving back. Talking to them about it is one thing, but active participation in community service is learning by doing.

By Charisse Lillie, Vice President, Community Investment, Comcast Corporation, and President, Comcast Foundation in Community Investment

Comcast Cares Day is my favorite day of the year, and I know it is for so many of our employees, too. That’s because it gives all of us the chance each spring to give back even more to the communities we support year-round. I’m thrilled to announce that on this last Comcast Cares Day we trumped every company record created since we launched this annual celebration of service in 2001:

• We had participation from more than 100,000 volunteers, including our employees, their friends and families, and nonprofit organizations and their members and supporters.

• We made change happen at more than 900 project sites, from painting an 80-foot community mural in Seattle’s Chinatown, to helping to rebuild an Illinois town decimated by a tornado, to creating a learning garden to give New Jersey families in need more access to fresh produce.

• Thanks to NBCUniversal, our volunteer efforts stretched around the globe to 21 additional countries, including Brazil, France, Mexico, and Singapore.

With the tremendous success of this year, we have surpassed 4 million hours of volunteer time donated throughout the history of Comcast Cares Day.

To reach these milestones, we partnered with nonprofit organizations, big and small, in hundreds of communities. We teamed up with our national partners to maximize the difference we make. This year, we joined forces with Boys & Girls Clubs on 50 projects, National Urban League affiliates on 16 projects, and local National Council of La Raza community organizations on 16 projects. Fifteen projects benefitted from the skills and talents of 1,640 City Year corps members.

Jennifer Cairns, executive director of the Sarah Heinz House Boys & Girls Club in Pittsburgh told us that the "sweat equity" we provided at her Club on Comcast Cares Day meant completing work that would have taken them months. It also enables the Club to put more money into programming to benefit the 3,200 kids served by the Club each year. Such meaningful and long-term benefits are part of why we value Comcast Cares Day, which is the largest single-day corporate volunteer event in the country.

I hope you watch this video to see how Comcast Cares Day aids people in need, while providing a chance for our work families to meet our real families. Employees often tell me they are grateful for Comcast Cares Day because of the opportunity to teach their children the importance of giving back. Talking to them about it is one thing, but active participation in community service is learning by doing.

I am incredibly proud of our entire team for making change happen, and can’t wait to do it again. Mark your calendars for our next Comcast Cares Day – April 30, 2016. 

This article first appeared on Comcast Voices, a place for conversations with Comcast. Read more blogs about our impact in the community here.