Through the Years: Ford Volunteer Corps
The history and evolution of Ford's employee volunteer network
2005
• Bill Ford establishes the Ford Volunteer Corps
• Ford sends 25 volunteers a week to help rebuild in the village of Khao Lak, Thailand following December 2004 earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia
• Thirteen-hundred Ford employees staff call centers across the U.S. and Canada for a “Shelter from the Storm” telethon in September for Hurricane Katrina victims
• In Southeast Michigan, over 11,000 employees give more than 86,000 hours to 130 nonprofits throughout the year
2006
• Ford Motor Company receives U.S. Chamber of Commerce award for efforts in wake of Hurricane Katrina; Honored by Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as Michigan’s Outstanding Corporate Citizen
• Nearly 3,000 employees participate in Global Week of Caring in September, logging 17,600 volunteer hours during the inaugural seven-day event
2008
• Ford Volunteer Corps introduces Accelerated Action Days—one day each quarter designated for volunteer projects focused on a specific topic
2010
• Ford Volunteer Corps logs more than 500,000 volunteer hours since 2005
2014
• Ford Volunteer Corps surpasses 1 million total volunteer hours—with more than 216,000 employees participating in over 9,000 community service projects in 48 countries across 6 continents since 2005
2015
• Ford Volunteer Corps celebrates 10 years of giving back to communities where employees live and work; Launches Bill Ford Better World Challenge global employee grant program and Thirty Under 30 philanthropic leadership program in the U.S.
• Global Week of Caring in September transitions to Ford Global Caring Month, expanding week-long effort into a 30-day concentrated focus on community service
2018
• Ford Volunteer Corps logs more than 1.5 million volunteer hours since 2005
• Thirty Under 30 expands; 2018 class includes employees from the U.S. and Canada
2019
• Thirty Under 30 expands to include employees from the U.S., Canada—and for the first time—Mexico
2020
• Amid COVID-19 pandemic, Ford Volunteer Corps accelerates the availability of virtual volunteering opportunities that can be completed online or via phone—from preparing job applicants for interviews, to reviewing grants online for women entrepreneurs, to staffing a virtual census phone bank and more
• Ford Read and Record virtual volunteering project invites employees to read a children’s book in their own language for families to listen to when schools went to remote learning at the end of 2019-20 school year
• Fifth-annual Global Caring Month pivots to give employees ways to safely give back; Program encourages employees to perform Acts of Kindness for friends, neighbors or families in need and invites employees to nominate a nonprofit for a Gratitude Grant in recognition of the work they are doing in response to COVID-19