The UPS Foundation Awards $2.4 Million To Advance Global Volunteerism

ATLANTA, Feb. 02, 2018 --

The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), today announced it is awarding grants totaling more than $2.4 million to non-profit organizations to encourage global volunteerism. Grants will be awarded to nine organizations, supporting initiatives including disaster preparedness and recovery, youth literacy and skills development, and veterans training.

UPS is also on track to meet its goals to contribute $127 million in total charitable contributions and donate 20 million global volunteer hours by the end of 2020. The company is now 78% of the way toward achieving its volunteerism goal. In 2017, UPS employees completed a record 2.9 million hours of volunteer service, providing more than $80 million in economic impact to nonprofits and NGOs around the world. During Global Volunteer Month in October, UPS employees contributed more than 400,000 volunteer hours through 240 community service events that took place across North America, Europe, Latin America, and ISMEA. Since the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, UPS focused its volunteers toward impacting the 17 global goals throughout the communities they serve around the world.    

 “We saw first-hand the power of volunteerism this past year when natural disasters left an unprecedented need for humanitarian aid and community rebuilding,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer. “Volunteers across the world, including UPS volunteers, rose to the occasion to provide aid, goods and hope. The UPS Foundation’s grants will help volunteers learn new skills and apply lessons learned to be better prepared to help those in need.”

The UPS Foundation grant recipients include UPS disaster preparedness and relief partners, ToolBank USA and Points of Light Foundation. The ToolBank USA grant will help advance the ToolBank Disaster Services response network which provides volunteers with tools and resources for effective disaster recovery. The Points of Light Foundation grant will include the mobilization of more than 250,000 volunteers and more than 6,500 veterans to support initiatives around disaster preparedness, response and recovery training. Both organizations actively provided relief efforts in communities affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017. 

The UPS Foundation also will award grants to the following organizations, among many others:

• BoardSource, to back programs that strengthen non-profit board leadership capacity and technology investment.
• Innovations for Learning, to improve early grade literacy proficiency through tutor training and support as part of its TutorMate project.
• The International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE), for continued support of the Disaster Research Working Group and IAVE Global Network.
• Junior Achievement Worldwide, in support of its “Be Entrepreneurial” youth development program that teaches business skills, financial literacy and work readiness to high school students in South Africa and Mexico.
• The National Youth Leadership Council, to encourage youth development programs for K-12 students in Georgia, Texas and Washington, D.C.
• The Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, for its non-profit Legal Check-Up Program which pairs non-profits with trained attorneys who conduct in-kind legal audits.
• The Taproot Foundation, to aid its skills-based volunteerism efforts which provide non-profit organizations in five major U.S. cities with marketing, design, human resources, technology and strategic planning expertise.

These grants are part of The UPS Foundation’s commitment to global volunteerism and charitable giving. For more information about UPS’s philanthropic and volunteerism efforts, please visit www.UPS.com/Foundation.

About The UPS Foundation

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight; the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation leads its global citizenship programs and is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2017, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $118 million in charitable giving around the world. The UPS Foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/Foundation and @UPS_Foundation on Twitter. To get UPS news direct, follow @UPS_News on Twitter.    

Kristen Petrella, UPS
404-828-4182
[email protected]