Clean water is critical; it is a human right but they have to pay for it. Plumbers do not work for free! This is why it is not readily available around the world.
What's Ford doing?
Hundreds of volunteers from Ford are going to help reconstruct a water system in Chanthaburi which serves a school as well as 3,300 local residents. They are going to be repairing the storage tanks and install new purifiers, restroom fixtures, and sinks. Apart from this, they are going to use the water for irrigating crops and sustaining gardens while providing hands-on experience for families and students.
The challenge
This challenge was launched in the year 2015 as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of Ford Volunteer Corps. The initiative even awarded a grant worth $200,000 to the Nonprofit Mobility App which works just like ride-sharing apps and helps connect Ford volunteers with vehicles and drivers who can move food, supplies, and building materials to places where they can make the most difference.
Bill Ford said that he was very proud of the response they received when they challenged their employees to improve the world. Initiatives like this are going to help meet critical needs of the community and will have positive impacts on the quality of everyone's life.
Around 20,000 volunteers from Ford are going to be participating in hundreds of projects all over the world in September. This is a signature event for Ford Volunteer Corps. Since its inception in the year 2005, members have contributed greater than a million hours of community service in over forty-eight countries and represented an investment of around $29 million in-kind.
This year, they are going to include the following projects:
- United Kingdom: Make extensive improvements and modernize a mental health facility.
- South Africa: Repair ceilings, renovate bathrooms, and paint houses for kids.
- Mexico: Build a water storage, make renovations at an orphanage and feed people.
- India: Make renovations at senior citizen homes.
- Germany: Develop and design urban gardens and help with the construction work at high schools.
- Colombia: Overhaul delivery area for a food bank and sort out donations.
- Brazil: Renovate a nursery and make repairs to a library and daycare for children.
- Angola: Repair, paint and renovate a secondary school.
- Australia: Beautify the grounds around a family retreat that is run by the Salvation Army.
Ford volunteers from more than ten countries have signed up for these projects including a number from emerging markets like Malaysia, Guam, Samoa, and Cambodia. In the United States, Ford employees are going to participate in more than one-hundred and sixty activities across sixteen states in September. There will also be an accelerated action day for Ford on Sept. 16th.
Ford Fund is even increasing financial contributions for non-profit agencies during their Global Caring Month. Grants amounting to $700,000 are going to be used for purchasing tools and various other supplies that are required for completing many of their service projects.
The powerful, positive impact that their work has had on communities and people is quite remarkable according to Janet Lawson, the director of Ford Volunteer Corps. Every year, they are able to help a better world come into focus through the efforts of employees and various non-profit partners.