PG&E: Commitment to California

“For PG&E, giving back to our communities is really about caring for our customers and for the future of California. We apply the expertise we've gained over our 100 year history of serving Californians to provide support and opportunity for our neighbors who need it most."

Ezra Garrett 

PG&E Vice President of Community Relations and Chief Sustainability Officer

PG&E employees and volunteers pose outside of Bakersfield City Hall after planting flowers (April 2013).

To celebrate National Volunteer Month (NVM), PG&E announced that they aimed to contribute 50,000 employee volunteer hours to advance their three signature programs: education, the environment, and economic and community vitality. This tops the 48,000 employee volunteer hours logged in 2013.

NVM corresponds to PG&E's Month of Service. During April, the company organized over 100 activities across Northern California, including food distribution, neighborhood emergency training, and installation of solar panels on Habitat for Humanity homes. Employee volunteers will also work on clean-up and restoration projects at selected California State Parks, marking the 13th year of partnership with the California State Park Foundation.

Employee volunteer planting native plants atMontaña de Oro State Park

The kick-off activity for the company's second Month of Service had employee volunteers help prepare and service meals at The Mission at Kern County, a homeless shelter in Bakersfield. Other groups made no-sew blankets for babies in homeless shelters across the San Francisco Valley.

Addressing a group of volunteers assembled to help clean-up and beautify Bakersfield's downtown, Mayor Harvey Hall remarked, “The Power of Blue is very evident." After removing litter, painting a mural as well as traffic control boxes, PG&E employees were recognized as Volunteer Group of the Year.

“I have fun when I do it. I get to meet people and really connect with the community,” affirmed Yolanda Montejano PG&E Contact Center Operations Safety Lead, of the Fresno division. Rich Garcia, energy solutions and service manager for the Yosemite division, noted, “[I]t gives you a sense of pride to know that PG&E is part of the community and is making a difference.”

Affirming the importance of the Month of Service, Tony Earley, PG&E’s chairman, CEO and president, was present for some events and even literally got his hands dirty at a cleanup event in Golden Gate Park. Information reporting the events was included on the company blog, Currents. I imagine that internal communications, and possibly signs, tables, or other special events promoted Month of Service activities.

Employee volunteerism, during the Month of Service and throughout the year, is only one aspect of PG&E's community contributions. Grants are given through the PG&E Foundation to organizations impacting PG&E's three signature areas. Mentors for New Academy Schools commit eight months to support students. New Academy Schools also receive funding for equipment and classroom enhancements.With the American Red Cross, PG&E supports the Ready Neighborhood initiative to prepare communities for natural disasters and emergencies. Some customers experiencing unexpected finacial hardship can be eligible for a one-time energy credit through REACH.

Best practices of PG&E's community activities include:

• targeted signature areas related to the company's mission and core competencies
• top management commitment
• strong communication about employee participation

These are three characteristics that can benefit any company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. PG&E's already strong CSR might be enhanced by providing employees with more opporutnities for skills-based volunteering.

On a side note, when I was researching this blog entry, I looked at the PG&E Foundation Board of Directors and was taken aback. Is there anything you notice about them that might be problematic?

PG&E Press Release
2014 Month of Service Blog Entries

Starbucks Month of Service Joins Partners and Customers in an Extra Shot of Good

Like many other companies who take advantage of National Volunteer Week, Starbucks celebrated a Global Month of Service during April. They are not only mobilizing their partners (employees) to participate in community events, they are partnering with other business such as Fidelity Investments and Alaska Airlines. They also invite customers to participate in the estimated 2,000 projects planned for 55 countries across the world. Projects include providing job search assistance and hygiene kits to individuals in need (Seattle, Washington), participate in outdoor restoration projects (Atlanta, Georgia), organizing art supply drives for Harry Van Arsdale Educational Complex students (New York, NY), helping at charity walks, and numerous other local events.

Earth Day at Work

If a company engages in or promotes sustainability activities only on Earth Day, April 22, the organization would legitimately be accused of greenwashing their commitment to the environment. Greenbiz.com, in their article, "The Selling of Earth Day 2009: The Good, the bad, the ugly," notes that many businesses use the event to promote products that may or may not have an environmental benefit. The call to consume may also conflict with some of the tenets of environmentalism: reduce and reuse.

However, if Earth Day celebrations serve an organization's sustainability strategy or reflect its authentic values, the events can become an important ritual or reminder of the sustainability work of the organization.

Kohl's

Sustainability is one of Kohl's corporate social responsibility focus areas. In addition to incorporating principles of sustainability in their operations (detailed in the 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility Report), Kohl's donates to social and environmental non-profit organizations. Starting in 2012, the company gave each corporate employee a reusable cup and installed hydration stations to reduce disposable cup waste. Employees tend three corporate gardens, two of which are adjacent to on-site daycare and are used to teach children about healthy eating and growing their own vegetables. Produce from the third garden is donated to the Milwaukee Hunger Task Force. Green education classes are held regularly to inform and inspire associates about environmentally-friendly practices. Both employees and customers can use Kohl's dedicated sustainability email address with concerns or questions.

In April, the company observes both Earth Month and National Volunteer Week with Kohl's "National Go Green Event." During the event, Kohl's Associates in Action will engage in a number of environmentally-related volunteer activities and the company will donate more than $2 million dollars. Some of the events taking place throughout the country include removing invasive species and planting native trees with Tree Mustakeeters (Los Angeles, CA) to protect wildlife habitat, providing landscaping to Habitant for Humanity homes (Macon, GA), providing construction and clean-up with the Urban Ecology Center (Milwaukee, WI), helping with plant bed maintenance with the Detroit Zoological Society, supporting a family day at the Delaware Children's Museum where toys will be collected for children in need, planting flowers at Butterfly Dreams Farm (a Theraputic Riding Program), cleaning and planting at the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary, sorting and packing donated items at Children's Specialized Hopsital (NJ), and more.

Timberland

Timberland has a long history of corporate action related to sustainability informed by their environmental philosophy, their Green Standard:

Service is a key value at Timberland, and they promote the value among employees through the Path to Service^™ employee volunteer program, which provides 40 paid hours for volunteer activities to full-time employees and 20 paid hours to part-time associates as well as two annual global days of service (Earth Day and Serv-a-Palooza).

For Earth Day 2013, employees organized over 100 events to promote community service. In China, Timberland employees are working with employees of the Pou Yuen Factory to plant trees and paint a local children's community center. New York employees are working with Concrete Safaris of East Harlem to update their gardens. In Stratham, New Hampshire, over 300 employee volunteers can choose among six different events, from re-greening a local dog park to sewing teddy bears from eco-friendly materials to be donated to children in need.

Anticipating the 2013 Earth Day events, Brianne Wood, Community Service Manager “I am looking forward to a great showing this year and the smiles on everybody’s faces after seeing the work that we’ve accomplished at the end of the day. I’m so grateful that Timberland gives us such a wonderful opportunity for us to give back to our local communities and it is amazing to see how much we can achieve together.”

Both Kohl's and Timberland's Earth Day celebrations highlight the respective company's ongoing commitments to sustainability, and the events reflect authentic values. Without a genuine commitment to sustainability and community service, Earth Day events might backfire. Although Bank of America promotes Earth Day as well as other environmental programs, the Rainforest Action Network has criticized the financial institution for having the third highest rate of investment in the coal industry (Bank.Track.org). If a company is planning for Earth Day but can't back their activities with a history of involvement with and commitment to sustainability, they might better use their resources to develop an environmental philosophy.

Organizations that want to provide service days but might be overwhelmed with initiating a program from the ground up can rely on Timberland's Service Tool-kit to outline key milestones and delineate logistics.

Want more examples of Earth Day activities? Check out this post by Jennifer Hermes.