FedEx make special deliveries for holiday season
FedEx is once again heralding the holiday season by delivering packages for busy shoppers – as well as non-profit organisations in need of a helping hand. Throughout November and December, FedEx will expand its year-round initiatives to provide volunteer hours and in-kind delivery services to a variety of unique and worthy groups around the world.
“Even though this is our busiest time of the year, so many of our team members want to go the extra mile to help people in need in their own communities,” said T. Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development and Corporate Communications at FedEx. “We are proud to support our team members in delivering many kinds of cheer and sustenance to brighten people’s holidays around the world.”
FedEx and its more than 275,000 worldwide team members regularly leverage the company’s global network of aircraft, vehicles and facilities as a powerful philanthropic resource to positively impact communities around the world.
During this busy holiday season, FedEx will undertake some of its most rewarding annual activities which follow.
Happier Holidays for Military Men and Women
For the fifth consecutive year, FedEx is teaming with the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation to deliver the holiday spirit to service men and women serving overseas, as well as military families with loved ones stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.
As part of the Trees for Troops program, FedEx transported thousands of real Christmas trees to Iraq for distribution at US military bases across the Middle East. In addition, throughout November and December, FedEx will deliver more than 15,000 fresh-cut Christmas trees to the families of soldiers at more than 50 military bases throughout the United States.
The trees are donated by members of the National Christmas Tree Association and trucked in by FedEx Freight from all across the country. Throughout the course of the program’s history, FedEx has helped the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation distribute more than 50,000 real Christmas trees in the U.S. and around the world.
FedEx Ground is also providing in-kind shipping services for Wreaths Across America, an initiative which honours veterans’ service by placing holiday wreaths on graves in cemeteries across the world-including Arlington National Cemetery. In 2008, more than 300 locations held wreath-laying ceremonies and more than 100,000 wreaths were placed on veterans’ graves with help from 60,000 volunteers.
FedEx Special Delivery
Launched in 2004, FedEx Special Delivery delivers help and hope to organizations, children and families across the US and Canada by supporting charitable collections, deliveries and events that benefit the local community with in-kind use of specially designed FedEx vehicles. Since the program began, thousands of FedEx employees have come together to help make the program a success-and never more visibly than during the holiday season.
This November and December, FedEx Special Delivery vans will be participating in New York-based food and coat drives; toy drives in Indianapolis, Dallas and Pittsburgh; food collections in Washington, D.C., and more.
On 12 December, FedEx will serve as the presenting sponsor of the Magic Johnson Annual Toy Drive Holiday Party for more than 300 children in Los Angeles. Dozens of FedEx volunteers will join the Magic Johnson Foundation staff members in hosting the event. Prior to the event, a FedEx Special Delivery truck will pick up hundreds of toys from Toys R Us and deliver them to the AMC Magic Johnson Theater.
FedEx & America’s Food Banks
FedEx has built relationships with food banks and hunger relief programs across the US to address the needs of the 36m Americans living at risk for hunger by leveraging the reach, strength and expertise within our networks. These support efforts include donations of volunteer time, transportation, food and money for these worthy programs.
Over the past year, hundreds of FedEx team members volunteered countless hours to pick up, deliver, sort or donate approximately 3.5m pounds of food across a wide range of cities, including Boston, Indianapolis, Memphis, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. These efforts resulted in approximately 100,000 meals being provided to those in need.
