The company piloted a volunteering digital hub to facilitate easy registration, tracking of hours spent and feedback from volunteers for its Delicious Difference Week. It also launched an online volunteering portal which allowed those employees who couldn't get out of the office to volunteer at their desks with a wide range of community partners and projects that match their interests and skills.
Feedback from the digital hub showed the initiative helped boost company pride and build team spirit among employees, as 84% said that participating in Delicious Difference Week helped them to feel good about the company and nearly half (47%) of employees said that participating improved their ability to work with their colleagues. While an overwhelming 96% of employees believed that their involvement had a positive impact on their local community.
Teams undertook a range of activities with over 20 community partners from volunteering in hostel kitchens serving food to the homeless and planting fruit and vegetables in allotment spaces used by hostels to building greenhouses and maintaining allotments.
The volunteers worked with a number of Kraft Foods' community partners, including: Midland Heart, Cheltenham Open Door, Fareshare and Watford New Hope Trust.
From rural China to the streets of Mexico City, a record number of Kraft Foods employees volunteered in 72 countries this month to fight hunger and promote healthy lifestyles.
At more than 800 events across the globe, 25,000 employees packed food for the hungry, planted community gardens, educated at-risk youth about health and nutrition, supported disaster relief efforts, and provided aid to the elderly, disabled and low-income families.
Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO, who volunteered at the Greater Chicago Food Depository to help pack more than 10,000 pounds of food for the hungry, said: "This year's Delicious Difference Week was the largest, most impactful volunteer event in our history." Rosenfeld also volunteered as a guest gym instructor at Namaste Charter School to teach children about the importance of active living. She continued: "I'm so proud that our employees are part of the fabric of their communities - making a delicious difference year after year."
Through Delicious Difference Week and multiyear programs funded by the Kraft Foods Foundation, Kraft Foods and its employees fight hunger and promote healthy lifestyles on almost every continent. Over the past 25 years, the company and the Foundation have donated more than $1 billion in cash, food and humanitarian aid globally.
