Ford Gives Back to The National Society of St. Vincent De Paul, Malaysia – Rumah Ozanam and Pusat Jagaan Darul Sakinah

October is Ford Motor Company's Global Caring Month. This is the 13th annual Global Caring Month and thousands of Ford employee volunteers around the world give back to their communities and lend a helping hand to those in need. So last weekend, Ford volunteers from Sime Darby Auto Connexion (SDAC), the official distributor of Ford in Malaysia, worked together with the National Society of St. Vincent De Paul, Malaysia – Rumah Ozanam and Pusat Jagaan Darul Sakinah.

Ford's volunteers as well as the organisations mentioned went forth to provide service, monetary aid and support, as well as organising activities to create equal opportunities for orphaned and underprivileged children. The activities this time around included a trip to Kidzania, purchase of school uniforms and distribution of household supply vouchers.

Ford Global Caring Month is the signature annual CSR event of the Ford Volunteer Corps. Since its launch in 2005 by Executive Chairman Bill Ford, the Ford Volunteer Corps members have contributed more than 1.5 million hours of community service in 50 countries. This represents more than $40 million of in-kind community investments.

According to Syed Ahmad Muzri Bin Syed Faiz, Managing Director, Sime Darby Auto Connexion, the company is proud to be part of the Ford Global Caring Month, and are truly inspired by all the work that Ford employees, dealers and local partners are doing across the globe. Together with Ford, SDAC are committed to moving forward and improving the quality of life for people in the communities where SDAC personnel live and work.

Asia Pacific Participation in the Programme

In terms of Ford's Asia Pacific participation in this programme, thousands of Ford volunteers will participate in various projects in China, India, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. There are also eleven countries in Ford’s Emerging Markets business unit and all will play a part in helping their own communities.

Ford Global Caring Month projects in the Emerging Markets include the following:

• Cambodia – Renovating playgrounds in a local school

• Guam – Providing financial support to public hospital and cleaning patient wards

• Hong Kong – Organising activities to raise awareness of cleft lip and cleft palate conditions

• Laos – Providing education on basic personal hygiene best practices for students

• Mongolia – Providing teaching aids and computer equipment for a local school

• Nepal – Organising activities at a rural school to improve basic sanitation knowledge

• New Caledonia – Tree planting programme to promote awareness on preventing deforestation

• Sri Lanka – Renovating a local school

• Vanuatu – Construction work at a local education facility

• Myanmar – Taking care of injured and sick animals at a local animal shelter

In September 2018, the Ford Volunteer Corps tackled hundreds of projects in cities, towns and villages on six continents. The Ford Fund – the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company – has contributed more than $700,000 in grants to purchase tools and supplies for many of the global projects.

Ford does give back in some way to the communities where they are based and where they sell their products. It is always good to hear news of this sort aside from the usual car, truck or bus news we usually write about most of the time.