“They do as you do, not as you say.”
This is a primary tenant of my parenting. Admittedly, I learned it the ‘hard way’ when my small people were truly small – as they began to mimic everything from my body language to my words and phrases. Sometimes it was adorable, while other times, I was little surprise by their ability to imitate.
But it meant that I could put a personal parenting goal in to action – I have always believed one of my primary responsibilities as a mother is to raise good citizens of the world. I do that, I truly believe, by SHOWING them what it looks to be a good citizen. Giving of my time, energy and money to the causes that matter the most to me.
I want them to see the beauty in giving.
I want them to know there are companies in the world that not only encourage this of their employees (as I have as their mother), but actually support their employees in action and funding.
Johnson & Johnson is one of those companies. Giving back is firmly imbedded in the core of who they are as a company . Their goal has always been to serve, not only the people who use their products, but the health of all and the serving hearts of their employees.
J&J has a Company’s Volunteer Support Program that encourages employees to become involved in the communities where they live and work. Within their areas, they connect them with volunteer efforts in educational, civic, cultural and faith-based organizations. The program does everything from coordinating volunteer days, to creating partnerships with local non-profits and they also recognize those within J&J who stand out as volunteers.
Meet Veronica Baltazar – an IT Senior Analyst for J&J Mexico and an employee granted leave to fully participate in philanthropical work in Guatemala. As part of an additional program, Johnson & Johnson offers volunteer leaves for both those employees who are Certified Disaster Volunteers as well as skills-based volunteers with certain qualifications wanting to take time with a non-profit NGO (Non-Governmental Agency) outside of the country.
This is just what Veronica did. No stranger to volunteering, Veronica had worked with sea-turtle habitats as well as spent time rebuilding homes in Mexico City after the earthquake of 2017. This new opportunity allowed her to spend four weeks working with Asociación Compañero Para Cirugía (Partner for Surgery) in Guatemala. Asociación Compañero Para Cirugía helps patients in urgent need of operations….like children with cleft palates. Her goal was to help the NGO to become more successful.
There are dozens of stories like Veronica’s – tales of J&J’s and their employee’s commitment to make the world a better place through giving back.
For employees who want to prioritize a specific or personal charity, J&J has options that encourage individual good citizenship. Johnson & Johnson has a Matching Gifts Program. This programs matches an employee’s charitable giving to the non-profit of their choice with a 2:1 ratio. The employee donates $1 and J&J matches with $2. For retirees – a similar gift of $1 for $1 matching. They do this up to $10,000 a year.
How do you plan to give during this upcoming holiday season?
Disclosure: I’m grateful to have a continuing partnership with Johnson & Johnson. As always, all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.
I LOVE that Johnson and Johnson is helping to promote a culture of giving within their company. We need so much more of that in the world.
I love how J&J is helping volunteers and supporting them in philanthropical work in Guatemala! This is a great culture and I hope to do the same one day!
I totally agree! Kids imitate what we do. This is such a great idea to teach them to give.
I definitely agree it is important to teach your kids at an early age how to give and volunteer their time. I am always looking for opportunities for my children and I to volunteer at food banks, church, and other places to help foster that.
Wow, this is amazing. Its so important and I’m so glad to see Johnson and Johnson doing this. Giving is so important and more people seeing this type of giving they’ll benefit and hopefully follow suit!
Good for J&J. This is definitely what companies should be doing, because it encourages giving in others. I appreciate them leading the way.
It’s so important to give when we can, no matter what form that giving takes. If we’re not, we should. I appreciate the write-up to help people be inspired to want to take action.
I had no idea that Johnson & Johnson had such a wonderful program. Volunteering is one of my favorite things to do so I appreciate companies that encourage employees to give.
What a generous program Johnson and Johnson is offering. I do a lot of volunteering and it is unusual to have a company give twice what the donor does. Great news!
I love company’s that give back to the community. I always research for companies that do before I buy anything substantial. Good for Johnson & Johnson!