|
|
| |  | |
John Deere employees around the world actively donate their services to improve their communities. Here are a few examples.
 |
| John Deere Dubuque Works employees lend a hand building a Habitat for Humanity home. |
Providing community support
At the John Deere Dubuque (Iowa) Works, employees build construction equipment – and community. A factory community service team coordinates volunteer activities for employees and their families. Dubuque Works volunteers generously donate their time to ten local organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club, the Jaycees, and Habitat for Humanity.
Recent volunteer activities have ranged from a one-day Deere Camp for 25 Boys and Girls Club members, to numerous weekends installing shingles and siding, and landscaping at the newest Habitat home under construction.
Catching the volunteer fever
New John Deere employees find the company's enthusiasm for volunteerism infectious. In Moline, IL, members of NEON, a new employees' network group, support a variety of local organizations. NEON members recently donated their service to the local Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure, to raise funds for breast cancer awareness, and painted a home and garage for the local chapter of Rebuilding Together. "We've found that volunteerism is a great way to develop relationships and become part of our communities," said Jay Whiteside, a NEON member.
Offering disaster relief
Within days after Hurricane Katrina pounded America's Gulf Coast in September 2005, John Deere Dubuque Works employees, suppliers and dealers joined forces to rush aid to the stricken area. More than 250 members of the United Auto Workers local at the Dubuque Works volunteered their personal time to build 21 backhoes and skid steer loaders donated by the company for disaster relief.
The volunteer efforts of the Dubuque employees were supported by donations from suppliers, who contributed machine components or provided them at reduced cost. Transportation suppliers provided trucks and drivers to deliver the equipment to the region. And John Deere dealers near the Gulf Coast region finished the job by transporting the donated equipment to municipalities in the area.
Combating hunger
|
| Employees from John Deere Power Products in Greeneville, Tennessee, proudly display the food their factory raised during the 2005 C&CE Division food drive. |
Employees in John Deere's Commercial and Consumer Equipment (C&CE) Division are taking aim at hunger in their communities. Each December, C&CE employees collect canned goods for local charities and food banks.
Starting with two tons of donated food in 2002, employee donations grew to 26 tons during the 2005 campaign. Hundreds of organizations throughout the United States and Germany have benefited from the generosity of C&CE employees.
Personal conviction
For Helmut Stumpe, an employee at John Deere SABO - Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Gummersbach, Germany, volunteerism is a personal conviction. For six years, Stumpe, a 15-year veteran of John Deere, has donated seven days of his annual overtime hours to deliver much-needed supplies – and hope – to villages throughout Croatia.
"I believe encouraging volunteerism is part of John Deere's social responsibility," Stumpe said. "Whether responding to a local fire (Stumpe is also a volunteer firefighter) or war relief effort, the company never gives a problem when I'm called to duty. That says a lot about John Deere as a corporate citizen."
|
|
|
|
