Special supplement: Firm's foundation

The 2008 Alcoa Worldwide Month of Service was held in October with the theme "Alcoa in the Community: People making a difference". More than 16,000 Alcoa volunteers across the globe joined by their families, neighbors and community groups participated in 450 community projects in 25 countries and regions to recognize those who give service to communities all year around.

Activities focused on partnerships with local groups to improve and rehabilitate local facilities and the local environment such as parks and rivers. Alcoa volunteers assisted in building sustainable communities, providing aid for children, the elderly and those in need, while supporting schools and health centers, and strengthening local infrastructure.

Volunteering and community service are part of Alcoa's values. The aluminum giant's employees give their time and talent on a regular basis to serve their communities through working with local nonprofit or non-governmental organizations (NGO).

The Alcoa Foundation supports their efforts through several programs that provide funding to the organizations served.

Alcoa Foundation

Alcoa Foundation is a nonprofit US corporate foundation with assets of about $542 million. Its mission is to invest in the quality of life in Alcoa communities worldwide. Throughout its history, Alcoa Foundation has been a source of community change and enhancement, with over $465 million invested since 1952.

Four distinct areas of excellence help guide the allocation of its resources to Alcoa communities: Conservation and sustainability, safe and healthy children and families, global education and workplace skills, and business and community partnership.

Month of service (MOS)

Alcoa's annual Worldwide Month of Service is a company-wide event that recognizes and encourages the efforts of the thousands of Alcoa employees who volunteer in their communities around the world.

It serves as a unified timeframe for all at Alcoa to work in teams and individually to help nonprofit and non-governmental organizations with their efforts to improve the quality of life in communities in which Alcoa operates worldwide. Matching this employee volunteer time with Alcoa grants extends the value of both Alcoa and its foundation's community investments.

During the service month, more than 400 volunteers from Beijing, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Kunshan, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea provided valuable contributions to their communities by building bird nests in wetlands, planting trees, cleaning beaches, caring for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, disabled children and adults, providing environmental protection training for journalists and safety training for migrant workers' children.

On Oct 31, 42 volunteers from Alcoa's Beijing office and 19 environmental journalists came to Alcoa Environmental Protection Center in Beijing for a training by a noted China environmental expert who helped them gain valuable knowledge of how to combat with air pollution, protect water resources, make good use of refuse and wisely plan city greening during the post Olympics time.

Volunteers expressed their willingness to attend more environmental activities in the future. Some journalists said the training was timely and expressed their determination to further publicize sustainability development in the future.

ACTION and Bravo!

In addition to the month of service, other initiatives by the Alcoa Foundation include "Alcoa's Coming Together in Our Neighborhoods" (ACTION) and Bravo!

The first encourages teams of five or more employees to spend a minimum of four hours on a community service project for a local nonprofit organization or NGO. In recognition of their efforts, Alcoa will make either a $1,500 or a $3,000 unrestricted grant - depending on the size of the team - to the organization.

The Bravo! program recognizes the individual volunteers who give at least 50 hours of service to nonprofit or NGO with a yearly $250 grant that is awarded to that organization.

Together the 2007 ACTION and Bravo! programs totaled 9,040 grants valued at nearly $3.8 million to organizations in 28 countries and regions, representing about 634,000 hours of volunteering in communities.

Alcoa employee volunteerism offers a growing and global opportunity to deepen the engagement with communities. It is a source of lasting, positive social impact.

(China Daily 11/24/2008 page8)