OREANDA-NEWS. August 09, 2016. Inspired by a 34-year-old college tradition and in keeping with the company’s commitment to support local communities, Monsanto employees across the U.S. and Puerto Rico have designated Aug. 12 as Monsanto Gives Back Day.

This year’s volunteer event has expanded to include 1,500 employees at nearly 40 sites supporting Monsanto’s Row Crop, Breeding, Crop Protection, and Technology Development & Agronomy divisions. About 950 employees participated in last summer’s inaugural event by cleaning up parks and roadsides in their communities, completing household tasks for elderly citizens and  harvesting produce to stock local food pantries, to name a few of the projects.

Monsanto Gives Back Day was inspired by The Big Event, a one-day community service project started by Texas A&M University students in 1982. Monsanto employees Hannah Neuenschwander and Fernanda Cabrera participated as undergraduates at the school and decided to start something similar at their new company.

“When I started at Monsanto, a portion of my orientation in St. Louis was spent with dozens of other new employees volunteering at a nearby food pantry. I saw that the company really encourages its people to get involved in their communities,” said Neuenschwander, a production associate at Monsanto’s soybean production site in Ashton, Ill. “Thanks to support from coworkers and leadership, Monsanto Gives Back Day is in its second year, and we hope to continue expanding the event to include even more employees from other functions of the company in coming years.”

The Monsanto Together Volunteer Program is a formal program that encourages employees to volunteer for causes that matter to them, and rewards them for their volunteer hours by directing grants to eligible nonprofits of their choice. Since 2010, Monsanto employees worldwide have logged approximately 400,000 volunteer hours, and last year alone, employee volunteer hours accounted for more than \\$710,000 in company-funded service grants.

“Every year, thousands of Monsanto employees dedicate their time and volunteer for causes that are close to their hearts,” said Janet M. Holloway, Monsanto’s Senior Vice President, Chief of Staff and Community Relations. “I’m proud to work at a company that actively supports employees’ efforts to make a difference in the many communities in which we live and work, and I look forward to seeing the growth of programs like Monsanto Gives Back Day.”

This year’s Monsanto Gives Back Day is expected to generate more than 4,500 hours of service in local communities across the United States and Puerto Rico. For more information on Monsanto’s community outreach efforts around the world, including volunteer activity, please visit the company’s 2015 Sustainability Report. 

About Monsanto
Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce seeds for fruits, vegetables and key crops – such as corn, soybeans, and cotton – that help farmers have better harvests while using water and other important resources more efficiently. We work to find sustainable solutions for soil health, help farmers use data to improve farming practices and conserve natural resources, and provide crop protection products to minimize damage from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit: discover.monsanto.com and monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on the company blog, Beyond the Rows® at monsantoblog.com or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.