Ford India, as part of its corporate social responsibility, is celebrating Global Week of Caring, an initiative held every September that sees thousands of Ford volunteers across the world participate in community development initiatives over a week.
Around 1,000 Ford India volunteers are set to join an army of 12,000 Ford employees, retirees and dealers and conduct hundreds of community projects across six continents for the seventh annual Ford Global Week of Caring.
From September 8 to 15, the Ford Volunteer Corps will be out in force with hammers, shovels and paintbrushes in more than 20 countries to tackle community projects. Volunteers have identified seven villages where they will arrange for tutorials after school hours. The company is also helping some schools with their infrastructure.
“At Ford India, our volunteers are crucial in helping us work with our community on an ongoing basis,” said Michael Boneham, president and managing director, Ford India.
A Literacy Mela at Peramanur will be held to showcase progress in the learning of village children through the after-school tutorial project. An awareness campaign on sanitation and a mural painting exercise will be conducted at two schools in Melrosapuram and Peramanur, where toilets are being constructed, to improve hygiene among school children.
The volunteers plan to visit orphanages and other institutions to spend quality time with residents and donate medicines, ‘hygiene kits’, school bags and footwear.
About $28,000 has been sanctioned to fund some of the projects during the week. This sanction is part of Ford’s global initiative to reach out to more than 25 nonprofit organisations in the Asia Pacific countries.