16 October 2006

Atlanta, USA: Employees of the international package carrier, UPS, will volunteer some 100,000 hours in 50 countries to undertake various community activities.

As part of its fourth annual UPS Global Volunteer Week from 14-22 October, employees are encouraged to assist communities by taking on tasks such as repairing schools, reading to children, assisting food banks and landscaping for community organizations. The effort will extend from Asia and Latin America to the United States and Europe.

"UPS delivers packages to doorsteps and a helping hand to local communities," said UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew, who will lead a walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Atlanta. "Our employees are good neighbors and Global Volunteer Week reinforces our legacy of volunteerism."

UPS’s Global Volunteer Week is an extension of the company’s long-standing commitment to volunteerism and marks the culmination of volunteer work performed by employees all year long through UPS’s global volunteer program, Neighbor to Neighbor.

Since 2003, the week-long community service initiative has grown from roughly 1,000 volunteers in 2003 to more than 20,000 employees expected to participate worldwide this year.

Local UPS employees choose their own Global Volunteer Week projects because employees best understand the needs in their own communities. The program this year will include volunteer efforts such as:

• More than 500 hours coordinating a baseball tournament for blind and visually impaired children in Taiwan.
• Nearly 2,000 hours renovating schools and shelters in Germany.
• An estimated 6,500 hours across the United States providing logistics support for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure fundraising walks for breast cancer research.
• And more than 100 hours sorting food for food banks in Montreal Canada.

Founded in 1951 and based in Atlanta, Ga., The UPS Foundation identifies specific areas where its support will clearly impact social issues. The UPS Foundation’s major initiatives currently include programs that support increased global volunteerism, literacy and hunger relief. In 2005, The UPS Foundation donated more than $43.8 million to charitable organizations worldwide.