• Nearly 700 Ford employees are participating in dozens of community environmental projects as part of a Ford Accelerated Action Day
•  Ford Motor Company Fund provided close to $55,000 in grants to nonprofits to purchase tools and materials for today’s volunteer projects
• The Ford Volunteer Corps also supported the annual Ford employee e-waste recycling drive to safely dispose of potentially hazardous electronics

DEARBORN, Mich., June 9, 2016 – Ford volunteers are planting community gardens, improving wetlands, removing invasive plants and beautifying landscapes on a Ford Accelerated Action Day focused on environmental projects. Nearly 700 Ford employees are digging into 49 beneficial community service projects created by Ford’s nonprofit partners.

“Protecting our natural resources is a critical part of creating a better world,” said Janet Lawson, director, Ford Volunteer Corps. “We’re building and planting in sustainable ways and the e-waste recycling drive goes a step further to keep potentially hazardous electronics out of landfills.”

Twenty of the participating nonprofits will share almost $55,000 in Ford Fund grants to buy the rakes and shovels, wood, plants and other materials needed to complete the day’s work. Nonprofit partners in southeast Michigan receiving up to $5,000 in grants for today’s projects include:

• Alternatives for Girls, Detroit - Garden and landscape renovation
• Arbor Hospice, Saline - Create a native garden at new residential hospice facility
• Center for Exceptional Families, Dearborn - Create a sensory garden
• Community Housing Network, Livonia - Landscaping enhancements at two group homes
• Community Living Centers, Farmington - Clean yard and landscape group home
• Community Opportunity Center, Garden City - Paint client apartments
• Detroit Zoological Society, Detroit - Create Nature Play Area at Belle Isle Nature Zoo
• Gilda's Club, Royal Oak - Build a vertical garden
• Gleaners Community Food Bank, Plymouth Township - Create a children's garden
• Henry Ford Estate, Dearborn - Native plantings and river walk reconstruction
• International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, Monroe - Lake Erie shoreline clean up at Ford Marsh
• Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor - Add boardwalk sections along Fleming Creek Trail
• Metroparks Foundation, Brighton - Removal of invasive garlic mustard
• Michigan Science Center, Detroit - Create a sustainable bioswale
• Northville Community Foundation, Northville - Build an observation fence for Maybury farm visitors
• Penrickton Center for Blind Children, Taylor - Build two wheelchair accessible picnic tables
• Ruth Ellis Center, Detroit - Create native species garden and butterfly habitat
• Southwest Solutions, Detroit - Create and enhance gardens at Escuela Avancemos Academy
• Starfish Family Services, Inkster - Create grow & learn butterfly garden
• University of Michigan Dearborn, Dearborn - Expansion of pollinator garden

Ford volunteers also joined once again with Ford Green IT to collect old computers, printers, phones and other electronic equipment for recycling. During last year’s collection, more than 75,000 pounds of e-waste was collected and disposed of safely. 

The Ford Volunteer Corps is working to create a better world throughout the year and has grown into a global network enlisting more than 30,000 volunteers who work on 1,700 projects across six continents. In September, thousands of Ford employees will help improve the quality of life in their cities, towns and villages during Ford Global Caring Month.  

About Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services

Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services works with community and global partners to advance driving safety, education and community life. Ford Motor Company Fund has operated for more than 65 years with ongoing funding from Ford Motor Company. Ford Driving Skills for Life is free, interactive, hands-on safety training focused on skill development and driving techniques, while addressing inexperience, distractions and impaired driving.  Innovation in education is encouraged through Ford Blue Oval Scholars, Ford Driving Dreams, Ford Next Generation Learning and other innovative programs that enhance high school learning and provide college scholarships and university grants. The Ford Volunteer Corps enlists more than 30,000 Ford employees and retirees each year to work on local projects that strengthen their communities and improve people’s lives in more than 40 countries around the world. For more information, visit http://community.ford.com.