Written by: Kelly Van Deusen
Subaru of America believes it has a responsibility to give back to the community and strives to do so in a variety of ways. Over the past five years, new Subaru owners have helped Subaru of America donate nearly $25 million during the Share the Love event. This money has been donated to several organizations including the Alzheimer's Association, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Make-A-Wish, Meals on Wheels Association of America, and the United Service Organization Inc. Subaru looks forward to continuing this event and donating more money to charities in future years.
Supporting and improving surrounding communities is another passion of Subaru of America. The Subaru of America Foundation (SOAF) was established in 1984 in order to help achieve this goal. Since then, the foundation has awarded more than $7.8 million to programs across the United States through grants, scholarships, and matching employee gifts. The programs are varied but primarily benefit children. These programs support youth-based initiatives in the areas of education, safe teen driving, environment and local community projects. Subaru of America also recognizes and rewards the academic achievements of children of Subaru of America Inc. employees, and encourages them to further their higher education. Through the Subaru of America Foundation, a scholarship program was created in 1996. Since then, the program has awarded 321 scholarships to employees' children, totaling $628,000.
Another concern that Subaru has a desire and passion to impact is hunger within its communities. Subaru has created several hunger initiatives that have provided more than 330,800 pounds of food and fresh produce last year alone, exceeding 880,800 pounds over the last four years. Along with the company's belief that it takes much more than money to create real change, Subaru employees are actively engaged in community service. In 2012, Subaru employees donated more than 3,500 hours to help their neighbors and improve local communities. Subaru of America encourages employees to support causes and organizations that are important to them, and the company matches their contributions on a 1:1 basis up to $2,000 per employee per fiscal year.
While Subaru of America offers their time and money to charitable programs, sometimes it is what the company does not give that makes the difference. Subaru builds their fuel-efficient vehicles in ecologically minded plants like Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. This manufacturing facility is the first automotive assembly plant in the United States to reach zero-landfill status. This means that all of the manufacturing waste from production is recycled, or turned into electricity. Subaru is also headquartered in a zero-landfill office in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
References:
http://dbrochure.subaru.com/brochures/subaru.lifebook.2014/index.html#!responsibility
http://www.subaru.com/csr/soa-foundation.html
