Comcast Cares Day Benefits Worthy Local Nonprofits

Portland, April 27th, 2013. More than 1,700 local Comcast employees and their families, including Nicole and Natalie Pepin who painted together at Faubion School, joined together to “make change happen” as they volunteered to improve more than 20 nonprofits throughout Oregon and SW Washington—five of which were in the city of Portland.

Girls Inc. of NW Oregon volunteers join Cares Day at Faubion School for some painting. Pictured: Zane Grout, Connor Music (in the back), Sadaf Assadi, Florisela Herrejon, Fardowsa Idris, Lauren Munoz-Tremblay and Rob Bush. Photo by Andie Petkus.

Comcast HR manager Kelly Lajoie and customer service rep Bernard Lorenzo help with refuse at Oregon Humane Society. Photo by Taylor Foster.

Guest volunteers Cathy and Pete Cornett join the Comcast Care Day team at the Oregon Food Bank to pack more than 14,000 pounds of carrots for Oregon and Clark County families in need. Photo by Art Hillsbery.

Kailan and dad, Comcast employee trainer Walter Smith dig in at Hacienda CDC’s Salon Communal. Photo by Andie Petkus.

Guest volunteer Mary Perkins enjoys the weather and helping out in the garden at Native American Youth and Family Center. Photo by Tamara Branderhorst.

Comcast Cares Day is Comcast and NBCUniversal’s signature day of service and the nation’s largest single-day corporate volunteer effort.  Across the entire Oregon and SW Washington region, more than 1,700 volunteers cleaned, painted and fixed items to give back to their communities.

In the city of Portland alone, more than 300 volunteers donated their time to five different projects.  At Faubion School (by far the largest project in the region) more than 250 employees and community volunteers transformed the school indoors and out and hosted a series of digital literacy classes for parents of Portland Public Schools.  Landscaping, gardening and grounds maintenance projects were completed at the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), Oregon Humane Society and Hacienda CDC’s Salon Comunal.  Digital literacy was also taught at Salon Comunal, and Comcast Cares Day volunteers contributed to packing more than 14,000 pounds of fresh carrots at the Oregon Food Bank.  Comcast partnered with Hands On Greater Portland to involve community volunteers on Cares Day in the Portland metro area.  More than 10 other projects were completed in surrounding metro cities.

Charisse Lillie, Comcast Corporation VP of Community Investment, joins the Oregon Southwest Washington crew to garden at Faubion school. Photo by Andie Petkus.

Comcast technicians Neil Edge and Nathan Pancoast spray-paint a basketball hoop at Faubion School. Photo by Andie Petkus.

John Avgiris and Cathy Avgiris, Comcast executive VP & general manager of communications & data services, joins Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith at Faubion School for a day full of gardening, painting and cleaning and Faubion School. Photo by Andie Petkus.

LaShawn Lee, Faubion School principal; Carole Smith, Portland Public Schools superintendent; and Rodrigo Lopez, Comcast regional vice president, burst with excitement for Faubion’s day of restoration on Comcast Cares Day. Photo by Andie Petkus.


This year more than 70,000 Comcast volunteers participated in over 600 projects across the country, and for the first time Comcast Cares Day expanded internationally with NBCUniversal operating various project sites in London. Comcast achieved an important milestone of 3 million volunteer hours and half a million volunteers since Comcast Cares Day started in 2001. 

“We are thankful for the key community organizations, volunteers and employees and their families who helped make this Comcast Cares Day a success,” added Rodrigo Lopez, Regional Vice President.  “We are so proud and touched by the 1,700 volunteers who donated their time to make change happen in the Oregon and Southwest Washington region.  Their efforts will have a lasting impact in the lives of others.”

The Comcast Foundation will also provide grants to local community partner organizations across the country on behalf of each employee and family member who volunteers on Comcast Cares Day.  The grants will help Comcast’s community partners continue their mission of serving the community throughout the year.  To date Comcast has committed more than $12 million in grants to organizations nationwide. 

Comcast has been committed to serving local communities since our founding 50 years ago. For more information on Comcast’s volunteer and community investment initiatives, visit www.comcast.com/community.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.  Comcast Cable is the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses.  NBCUniversal operates 30 news and entertainment cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts.  Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

About the Comcast Foundation

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations.  The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities.  The Foundation has three community investment priorities—promoting service, expanding digital literacy, and building tomorrow’s leaders.  Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $123 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves.  More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.

 

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Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.

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