Ford Motor Company is expanding its philanthropic reach through a new initiative called Ford Building Together. This program aims to leverage Ford's resources, including its personnel, dealership network, and vehicle technologies, to support non-profit organizations in providing disaster relief and community services. Mary Culler, president of Ford Philanthropy, emphasized the importance of bringing the entire organization together for greater communal impact. "We know if we brought the whole power of the organization together we can have a better impact," Culler told the Detroit Free Press.
The program is set to focus on four major non-profit organizations with which Ford has long-standing partnerships: the American Red Cross, Feeding America, Habitat for Humanity, and Team Rubicon. These partnerships are not new, but Ford's coordinated approach aims to maximize their effectiveness in assisting communities, particularly in times of crisis. According to a report by Audacy's WWJ Newsradio, the initiative will see Ford providing not just financial support but also involving its dealers across the country and encouraging volunteering by its employees.
To showcase the initiative's capabilities, nearly 900 Ford employees participated in volunteer projects at Michigan Central Station, including packing food boxes for Feeding America. This comes in conjunction with an announcement from Ford that they are increasing their paid time off policy for volunteers from 16 to 56 hours. "Our volunteering has gone up 56% this year alone because we have made it easier to volunteer and have added paid time off to do it," Culler remarked in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. Receiver of philanthropy, in this case, will also benefit from Ford's technological and vehicular resources, particularly during catastrophes when communities suffer infrastructure damage.
On a smaller scale, Ford dealers in various states have already begun participating in the initiative. Dealers in Texas are collecting food for Feeding America, while those in Minnesota and Colorado are assisting with material collections for Habitat for Humanity and conducting community disaster preparedness workshops, respectively. In California, Ford's coordinated response to the wildfires demonstrated the effectiveness of their unified approach, with dealers and Ford Philanthropy collectively donating $465,000 to aid those affected by the disaster, as noted by the Detroit Free Press.
Further outlining the program's objectives and invitation for community involvement, Ford highlighted the initiative's four-pronged approach to helping communities. As outlined on their blog FromTheRoad, this includes partnering with expert non-profit organizations, working with their dealer network, sharing employee skills through increased volunteerism, and lending vehicles and technologies. Ford's intention to create local activations, like blood drives and preparedness workshops, reflects their goal of turning dealerships into community hubs. Ford Building Together is also projected to extend its efforts globally within the year, reinforcing their longstanding commitment to service and philanthropy.
