2007 Event Summary
Thank you to the thousands of Ford volunteers who responded to Bill Ford's invitation to participate in the 2007 Global Week of Caring, and who helped make a difference in communities around the world. To date we have counted 13,741 Ford volunteers who touched the lives of countless people on six continents. The good deeds and acts of kindness included the following projects:
- renovations of orphanages, schools, elder care centers, and group homes for adults with disabilities by painting, electrical upgrades, building repairs, and landscaping
- construction of several Habitat for Humanity homes in Henderson, Nevada, Detroit, Michigan, Canada and Thailand
- collections of food and clothing for women and children living in domestic violence shelters
- donation of several new wheelchairs to elders
- successful "Fill a Ford with Food" projects in Ontario, Canada, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Mexico, Argentina, and South Africa
- collections in Mexico and Venezuela of clothing, food, bedding, fans and building supplies to benefit the earthquake survivors in Peru
- donation of school uniforms to123 children in an elementary school
- medical and dental care delivered to isolated villages by Ford employees
- parks, beaches and other public spaces were beautified through massive cleanup and reforestation projects, play structure repair, trail renovation, and invasive species removal
- 1000's of children in schools, orphanages, and hospitals were entertained with story hours, magic shows, field days, and full day trips to children's museums, parks and botanical gardens
- volunteers donated beds, mattresses and pillows to needy children orphaned by the HIV AIDS epidemic in Africa
- employees baked cookies and shared them with nursing home residents
- volunteers visited a special farm for abandoned and abused animals and repaired the fences and barns
- others escorted 25 wheel-chair confined senior citizens on a day long field trip to the zoo.
Over 33,850 hours were given and approximately $1 million was collected and donated to programs caring for the most vulnerable citizens of the world; our ill, elderly, orphaned children, poor, disabled, and homeless individuals. The kindness and generosity of our volunteers made an enormous positive impact on remote mountain villages and bustling metropolitan areas. Many Ford volunteers will continue to provide the same service in the coming months.
~ Margaret Mead
