Through our Community Relations Department, we provide opportunities for Ecolab employees past and present to become involved in programs that focus on education and community partnerships, such as serving on grant committees, being e-mentors to a local high school students, participating in collection drives, and volunteering with global partners such as The Nature Conservancy and Habitat for Humanity.
Ecolab employees and retirees understand they are part of a community that is much larger than their local facilities. Their efforts as volunteers make our communities stronger and more vibrant places to live.
Through our Community Relations Department, we provide opportunities for Ecolab employees past and present to become involved in programs that focus on education and community partnerships, such as:
• serving on teacher and community grant committees
• being e-mentors to a local high school students
• participating in collection drives
• volunteering to plant gardens and trees, and build homes
• facilitating science education programs in classrooms
In 2014, Ecolab employees volunteered more than 55,000 hours, of which 42,000 were during working hours and 13,000 reported by employees as volunteer time in their communities that qualified for matching funds through our Volunteer Bonus and Community Leadership programs.
Launched initially in the U.S. in 2012, teams of employees across the globe can now participate in the Ecolab Foundation's Global Team Volunteer Programme. This programme encourages employees to contribute their time and talent with select partners, encouraging volunteerism in the community in addition to financial support to non-profit organizations. Over 1,300 employees have participated to-date in 2015, clocking 1,800 hours of volunteer time, with $194,600 in grants being distributed to global partners such as Habitat for Humanity and Dress for Success.
Science Education Leadership Team (SELT) volunteers increase science, technology, engineering and math awareness for more than 2,000 students annually in Minnesota through the “Kids & Chemistry” programme, Bring Your Child to Work Day, city and state level science fairs, Science Fusion outreach at the Science Museum of Minnesota and STARBASE Minnesota. Additionally, in 2014, Bring Your Child to Work Day science programme was expanded from two Minnesota office locations to three other U.S. Ecolab locations in Illinois, South Carolina and Texas. In 2015, the Bring Your Child to Work Day programme was successfully expanded to Shanghai, China.
Nalco’s “Science is Fun” programme provides free in-classroom science demonstrations to Chicago-area third grade students to encourage their interests in science and math. The 60 minute demonstration consists of approximately 12 different experiments illustrating various aspects of science. During the 2014-2015 school-year, this business-outreach programme had 100 volunteers provide 129 demonstrations at 73 schools to 3,235 students.
Over 200 employees in Minnesota volunteer to be E-mentors with 10th, 11th and 12th grade students at Ecolab's partner school in St. Paul, Humboldt High School. Employees and students exchange weekly emails and discuss topics related to school and the workplace. Ecolab has facilitated this programme with community partner BestPrep since 2004.
Ecolab celebrates World Environment Day with volunteer activities around the U.S. in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. in 2015, Employees in the Twin Cities, Minnesota and Naperville, Illinois worked on preservation and restoration projects, planting more than 5,500 native grass and oak tree seedlings . Additionally, employees around the globe are encouraged to participate in partnership with The Nature Conservancy in their local communities.
Community Champions reaches out to communities where we operate in western Canada, helping to make them vibrant, interesting, healthy and safe places where children have opportunities to learn about science and sustainability through innovative and imaginative programs. Since the start of the Community Champions programme in May 2012, employees participating have logged more than 4,445 volunteer hours, and have submitted more than 390 applications, which has resulted in grants of more than $356,000 in 79 communities.
Through the Ecolab Foundation’s Volunteer Bonus (dollars-for-doers) and Board Leadership programs, employees and retirees can apply for a grant in support of their volunteer hours with qualifying U.S. non-profits as well as their board leadership positions. To date, 3,790 grants, totaling $1.2 million have been awarded through these programs supporting employees and retirees as they give of their time and talent in their own communities on their own time.
Other locations where we have volunteer programs include: Mexico City, Brazil, South Africa, Philippines, Singapore.