We believe that volunteerism is an important element of our community outreach. Through our Sharing Team El Paso (STEP) program, our employees volunteered nearly 16,000 hours to various community and charitable events across our system during 2010. This is an increase of nearly 1,000 hours from 2009 when more than 15,000 hours were contributed.
El Paso volunteers have a real and immediate impact in our neighborhoods through active participation in a variety of organizations and programs. Our STEP Web site, which is available on the company’s intranet, El Paso Today, makes it easy for employees to volunteer by providing a central location where they can learn about and sign up for upcoming volunteer events. On this site, volunteers record and track their hours, as well as hours contributed by family and friends, who can also register for certain events.
In supporting fundamental needs, El Paso’s employee volunteers assist organizations such as the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Association for the Advancement of Mexican Americans, Child Advocates, Target Hunger, Houston Food Bank, Colorado’s Care and Share, and Birmingham’s Operation School Bell, as well as homeless shelters and services, such as the Beacon.
In our focus area of education, El Paso volunteers help improve the academic achievement of youth by supporting programs that teach essential skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
For example, we have supported KIPP since 2002 and we continued our commitment during 2010 with 12 KIPP summer interns and in 2011 with 11 KIPP interns. KIPP’s mission is to help disadvantaged students develop and strengthen academic skills and character to achieve success in college and in life. We also supported Junior Achievement, which provides hands-on, age-appropriate programs designed to educate elementary and secondary school students about work readiness and entrepreneurship, as well as developing financial literacy.
Since 2004, we have partnered to help develop and cultivate students in Information Technology, Engineering, and Finance with Genesys Works, a nonprofit organization that trains and employs high school students to perform technical services for corporations. We support the organization by hiring economically disadvantaged high school students who have completed the Genesys Works training program. Two of our minority officers, Oscar Gonzalez, vice president of IT Operations, and Jesus Soto, vice president of Operations Services, serve on the board of Genesys Works.
El Paso also actively partners with Habitat for Humanity across our operations. In Houston, the Habitat for Humanity volunteer build is one of the most popular STEP events, with nearly 200 volunteers participating in the 2010 build. In Birmingham, about 90 volunteers participated in a similar build in 2010, which marked the third collaboration between Team El Paso in Birmingham and Habitat for Humanity.
Throughout the fall semester of 2010, about 30 Colorado Springs team members volunteered as mentors and judges for Russell Middle School’s First LEGO League team’s Body Forward™ Challenge. Our volunteers helped student teams to explore an actual problem that today’s scientists and engineers are trying to solve, develop an innovative solution to that problem by creating something that doesn’t exist or building upon something that does, and share their findings. They also committed to seeing the students’ final presentations during which the students shared their designs for new playground equipment.
In April 2010, 50 Team El Paso members from Birmingham worked to clean and restore the Ruffner Mountain visitor center and its wetland area. Since 2007, Team El Paso in Birmingham has supported Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition, benefiting a 1,011-acre forested urban nature center and certified wildlife habitat that offers educational programs and weekend activities for hiking and birding. Our volunteers have been active every year since in removing invasive species, such as brush, as well as conducting trail maintenance.
El Paso team members in Brazil are also involved in several community relations activities and social projects supporting our core strategic giving areas. In addition to Habitat for Humanity in Brazil, a flagship partnership exists with Caritas, an international organization that provides assistance to some of the most vulnerable people around the world. Our support of Caritas helps promote health education in deprived areas of downtown Rio de Janeiro by training community leaders to serve as health agents. These leaders then introduce important health education concepts and practices into their communities, which promotes understanding, acceptance, and use. Through this important social project, El Paso contributes to better health conditions and education in the area.
In 2010, Team El Paso in Egypt participated in an annual energy challenge fundraiser for CARE International, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that fights global poverty. We sponsored our own team, as well as a team of children from an area orphanage. The teams participated in hiking, problem solving, and teambuilding during the multiday event benefitting CARE Egypt.
The holidays bring out the best in our volunteers as we support opportunities and events in our communities. In Houston, El Paso employee volunteers dedicated six weeks and 660 volunteer hours to the Secret Santa toy and gift drive in 2010. Volunteers purchased, wrapped, and delivered holiday gifts to 717 elementary students and 60 senior citizens.
Volunteer Grants
Created in 2009 to align El Paso’s charitable support with the interests and passions of our employees, our ep36 employee volunteer grant program has grown as a valuable tool to provide contributions for volunteer hours served during an employee’s personal time. When employees volunteer 36 hours at an eligible nonprofit organization within a calendar year, El Paso will donate $500 to the charity on the employee’s behalf. Team members can track their personal volunteer hours using the STEP volunteer Web site.
In 2010, 59 ep36 grants were awarded, totaling $29,500, which is a slight increase over 2009 when 57 grants were awarded, totaling $28,500.
