Imagine 3,000 people in 48 cities and 15 countries, all serving their local neighborhoods and communities during our annual Global Volunteer Day, which takes place each year throughout May. Here’s an example of what happens when employees come together around a common cause:

"The school garden at PS 111 was in complete disrepair. The funding and efforts of McGraw-Hill employees allowed the garden to be returned to a healthy, functioning community space for the entire school. Students that were "buddied up" with McGraw-Hill volunteers also had the chance to interact with caring adult role models outside their everyday lives." - School administrator, PS 111.

Since 2004, McGraw Hill’s Community Partners group has coordinated a worldwide community service initiative. Held each year in May, Global Volunteer Day engages employees globally in volunteer activities in their communities.

Projects have ranged from a village development project in India and a wetlands clean-up project in Australia, to introducing interview skills to women returning to the workforce in New York City and a community beautification project in Ohio. Volunteers have prepared meals for people with HIV/AIDS in California, created environmental awareness campaigns for school children in Asia, and assisted immigrants in the US with job searches.

Our employees also benefit from team-building and the insights gained from working with different people and breaking down barriers. This quote is taken from feedback we received about last year’s Global Volunteer Day:

"Our gift-bag stuffing night at the LGBT Center of New York was a great opportunity to tear down the ‘work title’ walls that are present in our normal work environments. We had administrative assistants working alongside the President of one McGraw-Hill unit, with everybody taking direction from an art director at McGraw-Hill Education. None of those 9-to-5 signals of work class or status mattered--during our volunteer evening all of us were just employees with a common goal to help."