Honda Manufacturing of Alabama is “Driven to Make a Difference,” and throughout the month of July, more than 500 of the industry’s total 4,500 associates have signed on to lend a hand in area counties.Under the theme “Driven to Make a Difference,” Honda Volunteer Month began this July with associates being asked to volunteer a minimum of 5 hours to their favorite charity.
HMA associates have chosen a wide variety of organizations to spend their month with. In addition to dedicated service and volunteer labor, those chosen organizations will also receive a $100 donation from HMA.
“Honda Volunteer Month is driven by our associates and their commitment to the local communities and neighborhoods in which they live,” HMA special events coordinator Fran Pope said in a press release. “At Honda, we believe it is our responsibility to help make our communities a better place, just as we believe in building products that exceed our customers’ expectations.”
As an added bonus to the associates’ individual charity work, the entire HMA cooperation has arranged its own volunteer events. Since around 90 percent of Honda’s employees come from the five surrounding counties — Talladega, Calhoun, St. Clair, Etowah and Jefferson — HMA selected one certified non-profit agency in each county and orchestrated group-wide volunteer events for each of the last three Saturdays in July.
The first Saturday workday kicked off July 14 at the Anniston Museum of Natural History in Calhoun County.
This Saturday, groups will travel to Big Oak Ranch in Etowah County and the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind in Talladega.
On Saturday, July 28, Honda Volunteer Month will close with associates going to St. Clair County to host a cookout, tournament and afternoon of field day activities for the Boys and Girls Club of Pell City, and to Children’s Hospital of Birmingham in Jefferson County.
According to the press release, “Honda is very encouraged by the excitement and participation generated by this community involvement project this Saturday in Talladega.” Nearly 1,000 of those associates call Talladega County home, that’s why Honda teamed up with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, Pope said.
Jessica Ross, assistant director of public relations for AIDB, said work will begin at 7:30 a.m. and last until about 12:30 p.m. The group will begin at the Helen Keller School, painting, landscaping and performing other tasks. They will then move to the MGH arena.
In addition to providing hands-on labor, this team will help raise more than $5,000 for the institute.
“We’re very excited about it,” Ross said.
In addition to Honda Volunteer Month, Honda also has a community involvement program called HondaStar, which is designed to support the volunteer efforts of its associates.
This program allows Honda associates and their spouses who volunteer a minimum of 40 hours within a 12-month period to earn a $200 grant for a qualified non-profit organization.
