Volunteerism a part of Dannon’s culture
The Dannon Co. may employ only 225 people in its national headquarters in Greenburgh, but in any given year, 75 percent of them volunteer their time and talent to local nonprofit organizations.
It is, simply, a part of the Dannon philosophy, said Gayle Binney, the company”™s manager of corporate responsibility.
“We have a strong volunteer culture,” she said. “I like to think of us as small but mighty, but we really do have a very engaged employee base.”
The company”™s four values, she said, include health, nature, people and “for all,” or product affordability.
“We live that very much through what we do in the community, as well,” she said.
The spirit of volunteerism, which extends to those who work at the company”™s factory facilities in Ohio, Texas and Utah, is not something new and trendy.
It was back in 1972 that Dannon”™s then-CEO Antoine Riboud, made a key speech in Paris during which, Binney says, “He said ”˜A corporation has a responsibility bigger than just the economic performance of its products.”™”
In fact, another Riboud”™s quote ”“ “Corporate responsibility does not end at the factory gate or at office doors” ”“ is prominent in Dannon”™s philanthropic materials.
“We have a nice heritage, a nice foundation to draw from,” Binney said.
A prime example of those efforts is the annual Dannon Next Generation Nutrition Grants of $30,000 each, which often provide very concrete results.
Binney said the 2010 local grant winner, Open Door Family Medical Centers, not only reported that students in its school-based health clinic in Port Chester learned more about healthy behavior but more than half showed a reduction in Body Mass Index as the program went on.
Employees who themselves go out into the communities also get a sense of accomplishment. Departments who would like to incorporate a volunteer element to their meeting days often contact Binney. A team, for example, might have four hours of business meetings but follow it with an afternoon of donating their time to a local nonprofit agency.
Binney, often with the help of The Volunteer Center of United Way in Tarrytown, helps identify options.
“There are literally hundreds of choices,” Binney said.
Dannon employee activities in the past have included everything from planting trees for Earth Day to beautifying a local preschool, from serving up smoothies at a charity event to clearing beach debris. One day might find Dannon employees involved with health-related projects at the Thomas H. Slater Center in White Plains, answering phones during a radio fundraiser for Blythedale Children”™s Hospital in Valhalla or on nature-related efforts at the Beczak Environmental Education Center in Yonkers.
In addition, Binney notes, “We”™re very loyal to doing product donations throughout the year,” especially when these are tied to nutritional education events for children.
No matter the effort and its tangible rewards, the outreach efforts often bring something back to the workplace, as well.
“It”™s a way for people who may not interact together on a daily basis to find a way to work together,” Binney said. “It”™s definitely been a help when we”™ve done events that are across the departments.”
And that volunteer effort is one that will continue, Binney said, reaching everyone from the top executives to the newest batch of summer interns.
“It really is something we do at all levels of the company.”