"We commit ourselves to act..."
Leaders support sea turtle protection effort
Support of JohnsonDiversey's social responsibility initiatives starts with our leadership. Whenever possible, we integrate volunteer projects into our local, regional and global leadership meetings. At the first meeting of our Central Europe, Turkey, Africa and the Middle East Leadership Council, 90 executives visited Archelon, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece and worked on physical improvements to the property. The nonprofit organization protects a variety of species of sea turtles by preventing people from endangering their egg laying and nesting behaviors. Archelon also conducts monitoring and research activities, restores habitats, rehabilitates sick and injured turtles and raises public awareness of the importance of the creatures in the environment. JohnsonDiversey's leadership team painted a fence around the property, planted trees, and designed posters to convey the importance of protecting the turtles' habitat as well as the entire natural environment. JohnsonDiversey regularly donates cleaning products to the rescue center and supplies communication materials for its annual community awareness event.
Habitat effort builds nine homes in five years
For the fifth consecutive year, JohnsonDiversey employees took part in a Habitat for Humanity home building project near our Global Headquarters. Chairman Curt Johnson and other members of the company's senior leadership team pitched in. In the first year of our participation in the effort, we built one home. Every year since then, we have built two homes per year. In late September 2008, our employees constructed homes eight and nine. These homes help to stabilize some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the community. Employee groups throughout the Global Headquarters and North America regional headquarters pitched in during the eight-day project, as did staff from UTI, our third-party logistics provider. In all, 210 people swung hammers, sawed boards, ran errands, kept the tools and work areas safe and orderly, and coordinated meals for the other volunteers. Employees also raised about $75,000 toward the costs of construction.
Helping disabled students learn job skills
Through our association with the Kanagawa Building Maintenance Association, we have helped Japanese students with cognitive disabilities acquire practical skills in the professional cleaning industry. About 45 students from the Minamiosawa Gauken school took part in a daylong program at JohnsonDiversey's floor care laboratory in Kanagawa in 2008, as an extension of their classroom training. The training we provided included an overview of what building service contractors do, and instruction on specific cleaning tasks such as sweeping, mopping, dusting, vacuuming, collecting garbage and cleaning toilets. Some of the past participants in the program applied to participate in a cleaning competition as part of the Kanagawa Abilympic program. The Abilympics — a term coined from the phrase "the Olympics of Abilities" — began in Tokyo in 1981 to commemorate the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons. The Abilympics highlight the vocational skills of people with disabilities, and help raise public awareness of the significant contributions people with disabilities can make in the workforce and in society.
Donations help China clean up, rebuild after devastating earthquake
More than 68,000 people died when a magnitude 8.0 earthquake destroyed Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province of China on May 12, 2008. Tens of thousands more were missing and hundreds of thousands injured. JohnsonDiversey responded immediately with compassion and practical assistance. The company donated 1,200 boxes of disaster relief products that were urgently needed for the decontamination and cleaning of affected areas. Employees contributed CNY 100,000 (nearly U.S. $15,000) in cash to the relief effort through the Shanghai Red Cross. We are grateful that all JohnsonDiversey employees in China were safe from harm in the earthquake. Some employees' families suffered injuries in the earthquake, and some lost their family homes. Every employee in the stricken area worked hard for months to help bring some normalcy back to the area and to support the people and our customers who were stricken.
Dollars for Doers backs employee volunteerism with cash contributions
To foster a spirit of volunteerism and extend our opportunities to serve the communities in which we operate, JohnsonDiversey offers employees the Dollars for Doers program. Dollars for Doers is a part of the SC Johnson Fund and provides cash donations of $250 per fiscal year to eligible nonprofit organizations where an employee or retiree volunteers at least 40 hours per year. As a result, these organizations benefit twice — first through the employee's or retiree's time and talent, and second through the donation from the Fund. There is no limit to the number of organizations for which an employee or retiree can apply for a grant, although contributions to a single organization are limited to 10 per year.
Swiss scout camp gets food safety training from JohnsonDiversey
More than 23,000 children who took part in a two-week scout camp near Lake Zurich, Switzerland, had the protection and comfort of JohnsonDiversey's environmentally preferred, superior cleaning products to make their stay safer and more comfortable. JohnsonDiversey donated PurEco® chemicals for restroom cleaning, kitchen cleaning and fabric wash at the camp, and donated food safety training materials for the camp staff. PurEco is our line of certified, environmentally responsible cleaning products, certified by either or both of Europe's independent green-cleaning certification bodies, Nordic Swan and EU Flower. The scouts, age 8 to 16, also cooked during their time in the camp and benefited from the food safety training materials.
Partnership with Spanish foundation helps people with disabilities find jobs
To help people with disabilities gain increased access to the job market, JohnsonDiversey's operations in Spain have started a collaboration with Fundac’on Adecco (Adecco Foundation), an arm of the Adecco Group worldwide staffing agency. The foundation in Spain, established in 1999, partnered with JohnsonDiversey employees to focus on three projects:
- Assisting JohnsonDiversey employees whose relatives have physical or mental disabilities develop personal and professional skills to increase their employment options;
- Improving the accessibility of our new facilities in Barcelona; and,
- Providing social activities for and with people with disabilities, sponsored by JohnsonDiversey.
Khmer families in Cambodia gather in front of one of the new homes built for them by JohnsonDiversey's Asia Pacific leadership.
Employees and their families pitch in to tidy beaches in Greece.
Barbara Klein, the 2008 winner of the H.F. Johnson Community Service Award
Building homes, building hope in Cambodia
Home building was on the agenda of the first 2008 meeting of JohnsonDiversey's regional leadership team in Asia Pacific. The region's executives, along with the leaders of the Global Children's Initiative in surrounding countries, took a day to construct houses for six families in Danrei Chlorng, in the Kandal Province of Cambodia. They undertook the project in partnership with Tabitha Cambodia, a charity that works with the poorest members of the community, helping them establish cottage industries to generate income, create savings programs and develop the community. The home building projects are especially important, as they engage volunteers directly with the Khmer people who were marginalized under former political turmoil. The homes they built will shelter 13 adults and 22 children.
Employees in India donate a day's pay to help flood victims
More than 3 million people were displaced in the Bihar region of India after monsoon rains caused the Kosi River to break its banks near Nepal in mid-August. Villages were destroyed. Families were left without shelter, food or drinkable water. Roads and bridges were wiped out, marooning the flood victims away from the help they needed. More than 190 people died. Our employees in India responded with help. Every employee in JohnsonDiversey India donated a full day's pay to a fund established by the Confederation of Indian Industry, a nonprofit Indian business organization.
Employees and families clean up Greek beaches
For the fifth consecutive year, JohnsonDiversey employees in Greece joined a pan-Mediterranean campaign to clean beaches along the Mediterranean Sea. Employees and their families worked in cooperation with Mesogeios SOS, a nongovernmental organization addressing environmental issues in Greece. They were pleased to find that as they worked, sunbathers who watched them got up and pitched in. A municipal official thanked the employees and their families, and said it would be ideal if more companies followed JohnsonDiversey's example in protecting the local environment.
Grant helps establish a new classroom for children with disabilities in Mumbai
JohnsonDiversey India contributed Rs1.26 L (U.S. $2,500) to the Punarvas Education Society in Mumbai to help the organization expand its assistance to children with cognitive disabilities. The funds will help support the establishment of a new classroom for 10 children. Punarvas provides care, education and rehabilitation services to 130 children, with a staff of 32 teachers. About two-thirds of theorganization's funding comes from government sources, and the group relies on donors for the remainder of its needs. Punarvas is expanding its services and hopes to serve 500 children.
Award honors outstandingvolunteer service
Each year, JohnsonDiversey honors the volunteer efforts of its employees through the H.F. Johnson Community Service Awards program. The top award includes a $5,000 donation in the winner's name to the nonprofit organization of the person's choice. Up to 10 additional awards may be granted each year, each consisting of a $500 donation to a nonprofit organization of the winner's choice and a certificate of recognition for the winner.
The 2008 winner of the H.F. Johnson Community Service Award was Barbara Klein, who has donated platelets every month for the past eight years. Platelets are clotting agents in blood that are critical to the survival of bone marrow transplant recipients and people being treated for blood disorders, including leukemia. Klein also volunteers with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Those whose volunteer service earned H.F. Johnson Community Service Recognition Certificates in 2008 were:
- Tim Montreal, who volunteers about 340 hours a year to Cherry Creek Youth Sports in Colorado.
- Sheri Wolf, who has served for eight years with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Racine, Wisconsin; and,
- Andrea Carrao, who donates her scientific expertise to support water quality initiatives at the River Bend Nature Center in Racine.
Any JohnsonDiversey employee or retiree in the United States may be nominated for the award, which recognizes the winner's significant service as a community volunteer.
United we give
Employees have consistently made JohnsonDiversey one of the top contributing companies in the annual United Way campaign. In 2008, U.S. employees gave $152,142.14, which was matched by the SC Johnson Fund, bringing the total to more than $300,000. Every year, JohnsonDiversey contributes significantly to the SCJ Fund as one of the separate companies of the Johnson Family.
Employees help build Habitat for Humanity homes near our Global Headquarters.
Scouts prepare a meal at a Swiss camp. JohnsonDiversey donated food safety products and training to the two-week camp.