AKRON — Goodyear is committing to making a difference one moment at a time.
This year, the Akron-based tire maker launched its first Week of Volunteering effort, which called on current and former employees to take time from their day and work to change the communities around them.
The initiative, which was implemented in Akron, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Romania and Ukraine, saw 1,252 Goodyear employees, retirees and their loved ones invest more than 6,000 hours of service in local community service projects. The time donated by the volunteers equated to more than $300,000 worth of time, according to estimates provided by Goodyear.
“Our first Week of Volunteering was an incredible success that brought our company's approach toward giving back in our communities, Goodyear Better Future, to life,” Alison White, Goodyear's director of community engagement, said in a statement.
“Goodyear associates are the foundation of our company's commitment to our communities and we are grateful for their contributions of time, skills and resources on behalf of Goodyear. We truly couldn't have done it without them.”
Most of the events in which Goodyear associates took part were in the Akron area, where 20 percent of the focused volunteer efforts benefited youth throughout the community. In total, 1,000 Akron-area employees volunteered 5,000 hours of time and worked with 12 non-profit organizations and professional development workshops. ON these projects, Goodyear partnered with Akron Children's Hospital, Boys & Girls Club of the Western Reserve, Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio, Akron Public Schools NIHF STEM Middle School and City of Akron Peacemakers.
Roughly 70 percent of the volunteers' hours were invested in sustainability projects, Goodyear said. These efforts included repacking enough food at the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank to provide more than 33,000 meals to families in need; beautifying landmark areas of Akron with the Downtown Akron Partnership and Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition and completing nearly three-years-worth of maintenance work at the YMCA Camp Y-Noah.
Other volunteer efforts in and around Akron included professional development workshops led by Goodyear associates and partnering with the Red Cross of Summit, Portage and Medina Counties for the installation of smoke alarms to improve home safety for at-risk populations.