Timberland Celebrates Record Number of Volunteer Champions

Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently celebrated a record number of volunteer champions at its Stratham, New Hampshire global headquarters with its annual recognition breakfast. Since 1992, Timberland has offered employees paid time to serve their community through the brand’s Path of Service™ Program. Employees who serve all 40 of their available service hours in a year earn membership in the company’s 40’s Club. In 2017, 163 Stratham employees served all their available hours and were welcomed into the 40’s Club.  This was 32 more than 2016, and set a new record for participation.

2017 marked the 25^th anniversary year of the Path of Service™ program. To celebrate, Timberland hosted a volunteer fair and a 25 Days of Service Challenge last summer to engage more employees to serve. These events, in addition to Timberland’s two global service days (Earth Day in Spring and Serv-a-palooza in Fall) and the monthly service events offered to employees, helped to move the needle on engagement.

“I am so proud of the 163 employees who served all of their available service hours last year,” said Jason Blades, community service manager for Timberland. “It’s amazing to work for a company where 40% of the employees each make 40 hours of difference in their community. This breakfast was a great way to round out the 25^th anniversary year of the Path of Service™ and to kick off our next 25 years.”

This year’s 40’s Club members received their traditional certificate and pin at the country-themed breakfast. They also received 40’s Club reusable water bottles, special Path of Service 25^th anniversary hang tags, and 40’s Club baseball hats. Senior leaders Kate Kibler, vice president of Timberland Direct to Consumer, Bob Sineni, vice president and general manager of Timberland PRO, and Katherine Cousins, vice president and general manager of VF’s Kodiak brands, all earned their 40’s Club membership this year and attended the breakfast. 

After Kibler and Sineni shared a few words about their service experiences this year, attendees heard from Elaine Hamel, founder and director of Girls at Work, a local nonprofit that empowers girls with the tools to overcome adversity and build confidence to face current and future life challenges.  Timberland has partnered with Girls at Work on a number of large and small-scale service events, and Elaine spoke to the positive impact Timberland volunteers have on organizations like hers.

 “Until I started at Timberland five years ago, I did not realize how important community service was to me,” said 40’s Club Member and breakfast attendee Donna O’Neill.  “I am extremely grateful for the opportunities we have here at Timberland to serve and make a difference.”