Hundreds of PepsiCo employees are preparing to fan out to do volunteer work throughout Westchester and Fairfield counties July 18.
This fifth edition of the Pepsi Gives Back Days program will find PepsiCo employees working with all ages at nonprofit organizations that serve a variety of community needs.
Christine Mugno, manager of global citizenship and sustainability for the PepsiCo Foundation in Purchase, said the company employs some 3,500 people in Purchase, Somers and Valhalla ”“Â and this year”™s target is to have 600 of those doing volunteer work that day.
“We try to find organizations that work within sort of our focus areas,” she said. These include health, the environment and education. Some will be organizations that PepsiCo has had longstanding relationships and others will be new.
The Volunteer Center of United Way in Tarrytown has been working with PepsiCo to help organize the efforts.
Jeanette Gisbert, senior director of volunteer and corporate engagement for The Volunteer Center, said it”™s rewarding to be working with PepsiCo again.
“Volunteerism is a part of their culture,” Gisbert said, noting the company strives to continue “harnessing employees interests and passions” into this daylong effort. Already, she said, “We have over 25 projects identified.”
PepsiCo volunteers are set to work with organizations including Green Chimneys in Brewster, Children”™s Village in Dobbs Ferry, the Sharing Shelf of Family Services of Westchester, the Food Bank for Westchester and Somers Manor, a rehabilitation and skilled-nursing facility, among others.
“The menu of opportunities is very diverse,” Gisbert said, adding that is intentional to help employees find an opportunity that will match up with their own interests and talents.
The Westchester center has teamed up with its Connecticut counterpart to offer aid in efforts that cross state lines. PepsiCo volunteers, for example, will help rebuild a washed-out bridge at Audubon Greenwich.
The rewards of days such as these extend far beyond the actual work that is accomplished, says Alisa Kesten, the executive director of the Volunteer Center in Westchester. Working side-by-side with co-workers on projects unrelated to work often builds a bond that continues back on the job.
“Now they”™ll recognize each other as they see each other and have that connection,” Kesten says.
And the days can have a lasting impact on the nonprofits, as well. In these challenging economic times, Kesten adds, “nonprofits have to figure out ways to do much more” with less resources. She encourages nonprofits to think about what they”™d do if they suddenly learned they would have 25 volunteers for a day.
“One of the things we do year-round is talk to nonprofits about their ”˜blue-sky projects,”™ what would they do if they got that call,” she said.
Mugno says these a program like Gives Back Days can also be a learning experience for employees.
“Even though Westchester and Fairfield counties, they tend to be well-off counties, there”™s a lot that”™s hidden there.”
Some employees, she adds, are so affected that they go on to volunteer on their own time.
“They get hooked,” Mugno said. “They get bitten by the work of the organization. It”™s been wonderful to see that.”
While Gives Back Days is a major mobilization for PepsiCo, the company”™s efforts go far beyond this annual event.
In May, for example, the company sponsored a Bowlathon fundraiser for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Family Services of Westchester. “PepsiCo Bowl for Kids”™ Sake” was held May 18 at AMF White Plains Bowl.
And earlier this month, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, the acclaimed guide-dog school in Yorktown Heights, announced that it received a $3 million commitment from the PepsiCo Foundation that will go toward the renovation and expansion of the Canine Development Center in Patterson.
In a statement announcing the grant, Guiding Eyes for the Blind CEO and President William D. Badger said, “For years Guiding Eyes has benefitted from PepsiCo”™s generosity of expertise and volunteer spirit.”
The Volunteer Center of United Way welcomes contact from corporations looking to find projects for their employees. For more details, call the Volunteer Center at (914) 948-4452.
