It’s Ford time

Lawson says MODEL Teams is the logical next-step in the evolution of the Ford Volunteer Corps. The Volunteer Corps was created in 2005 by Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford when he saw the need for Ford volunteers to respond to the tsunami and then two state-side hurricanes. The Ford Volunteer Corps was a way to pull all of those efforts together. An example of how the Ford Volunteer Corps has grown could be seen last fall during an event called the Global Week of Caring.

Despite the company’s diminished workforce, throughout one week in September, the number of employees who volunteered for local public service projects jumped from 2,900 in 2006 to 14,000 in 2007. The Accelerated Action Day will help local nonprofit organizations harness that kind of high volume volunteer on projects organized into seasonal themes, such as the children/educational projects on March 13.

Likewise, the events earmarked on or around May 22 focus on the environment with Ford volunteers working on environmental cleanups, hands-on education programs and recycling efforts. The volunteer projects on or around Sept. 11, will offer MODEL Team volunteers the opportunity to help build homes and schools, refurbish parks and spruce up community centers. And the projects scheduled on and around Nov.

26 will focus on the holiday theme of giving and sharing through projects that include decorating senior residences, delivering meals to shut-ins, food collections, clothing drives and serving meals at soup kitchens. “We anticipate thousand of volunteers across America forming hundreds of projects during this one special day each season,” Lawson said.