Story
Henkel volunteers give their hearts and hands to help others
Across North America, Henkel employees bring their hearts and hands into local communities to improve the quality of life for others. Through the Make an Impact on Tomorrow initiative, that was launched globally in 1998, Henkel supports the volunteer work of employees to support foodbanks, build homes, organize events that help fight cancer, and much more. Employees are also making an impact to build better tomorrows by being Sustainability Ambassadors, a program launched globally in 2012, that encourages employees to make a visible contribution to sustainability by engaging with local communities, and especially schools to teach children about sustainability.
“Henkel encourages volunteerism and is proud to help our employees support causes they are passionate about through programs such as our Make an Impact on Tomorrow (MIT) initiative. In celebration of International Volunteer Day, we thank our employees for their dedication and incredible voluntary service that make a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of others in their communities.” says Frank Steinert, Senior Vice President, Head of Human Resources, North America.
Here is a sample of their many stories:
Through Henkel’s Sustainability Ambassador program, employees teach children the importance of sustainability through hands-on experiments and show how everyone can contribute to a more sustainable environment.
Helping out at Special Olympics games in Connecticut is a family tradition for Melissa Jacobs, Senior Litigation Paralegal (second from right). Along with Henkel colleagues, Melissa’s children join her in supporting the athletes and inclusion for people of all abilities. Melissa shared what it means to her, “On a personal level, my son struggles with a learning disability and helping out at these events has shown him first-hand that our community is not only diverse, but with perseverance and hard work, you can overcome any challenge no matter what disabilities a person may have.”
Not only volunteering with her heart and hands, Vanessa Marques, Assistant Brand Manager in Beauty Care also donated her hair.
On behalf of the Schwarzkopf® brand’s Million Chances program, Vanessa organized hair donation events where employees, friends and family received haircuts and donated hair to Locks of Love, which provides hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children.
To further the fight against cancer, Vanessa organized fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and rallied her colleagues to build Hope Kits for women undergoing treatment for cancer.
Vanessa describes her experience, “It has been such an honor to lead this initiative and drive awareness of breast cancer. I could not have done it without the support of my amazing colleagues!”
Helping to close the hunger gap in the Detroit area, his home city, has been a passion of Duff Michowski, Lead Project Engineer at Henkel. For over 10 years he has volunteered at St. Leo’s Soup Kitchen which serves more than 40,000 meals each year to people in need. After noticing that the equipment needed to prepare meals was breaking down, Duff applied for an MIT grant. Thanks to Duff and Henkel, St. Leo’s purchased a new oven, a steam table and a refrigerated buffet table. Duff expressed his gratitude: “Receiving support from the Henkel-MIT program allowed me to do more for the soup kitchen than I could do as an individual.”
