For example, in 2021, more than 70 Waterloo Works production and maintenance employees volunteered to build the walls for six homes in Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity communities. In total, they built over 200 walls inside the John Deere facility. Once the walls were complete, they were set and sided by more John Deere employees at multiple home construction sites. By volunteering their time, each employee also earned rewards per hour volunteered through the foundation's Dollars for Doers Program, which the employees could then direct to nonprofit organizations of their choice as monetary donations.
Because access to safe and affordable housing is critical to a community's vitality, the foundation provided a $2 million grant to Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity in 2021. In the counties served by this Habitat, more than 300 people are still on the waiting list to participate in the organization's homeownership program.
In 2021, John Deere employees recorded over 124,000 volunteer hours which resulted in over $1.21 million donated to their favorite causes through the Dollars for Doer Program. 111,000 of these hours were logged in the U.S, where the latest estimated value of each volunteer hour is $28.54. This means John Deere employees created over $3 million of additional value in their service of others.
