And for our next trick, we will build a playground in six hours flat.

Some might believe a stunt like this can only be accomplished by a magician waving a wand. After building 11 playgrounds with KaBOOM!, we’re confident it only takes the hands of more than 300 helpful volunteers.

Last Friday, we teamed up with the Orlando Magic, the Orlando Neighborhood Improvement Corporation and KaBOOM! to transform the grounds of the Maitland Oaks apartment complex and provide children with a safe place to play. Through the Amway One by One Campaign for Children, our goal is to provide children around the world with the resources they need to live, achieve, learn and play.

Now, hundreds of children in the Orlando community will have a place within walking distance where they can go to simply be a kid.

Amway was among the constellation of big stars at yesterday’s Skating with the Stars Gala, a benefit for Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH), where the greatest skaters along with celebrities, corporate and community leaders come together for an evening of ice skating at the Trump Wollman Rink in iconic Central Park in New York City.

Our very own Candace Matthews, Amway Chief Marketing Officer, joined Figure Skating in Harlem’s Board of Directors in 2005 and has served several terms as FSH’s Board Chair and Gala Co-Chair. 

Through the Amway One by One Campaign for Children, it is our mission to offer children the resources they need to live, achieve, learn and play, and FSH is an excellent example of a program we support. FSH is the first and only youth development organization that uses figure skating to draw girls from underserved communities into an after-school education and ice skating program, giving them the tools they need to realize their true potential.

Currently up for grabs on charitybuzz.com is a trip for two to attend Artistry on Ice in Shanghai, China. The event, named after our prestige skincare and beauty brand, Artistry, made headlines around the world last year when Olympic gold medal pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo exchanged vows on ice. All proceeds from the auction will benefit Figure Skating in Harlem.

P-A-R-T…Y? Cuz we have a lot to celebrate!

Today, our World Headquarters opened its doors to applaud all of our amazing employees right here in West Michigan who have made a difference. Last year, over half of the employee population actively participated as volunteers for our Amway One by One Campaign for Children. With their help, over 18,000 volunteer hours were clocked, impacting more than 196,000 children in our community. Together with our affiliates, Amway One by One has cumulated 2.3 million volunteer hours worldwide.

It’s no surprise, for volunteering is part of our culture. Whether it’s shopping with students at our annual Santa’s Secret Workshop or packing sack suppers at Kids’ Food Basket, there is no shortage of volunteer activities. In fact, we’re gearing up for our 12th playground build on May 13. Our employees will partner with KaBOOM!, the City of Grand Rapids and the Creston Neighborhood Assocation to provide more than 6,000 local children with a safe place to play.

Congratulations to all of our employee volunteers, and thank you to everyone who signed up to be a volunteer today!

If you’re a fan of the AC Milan soccer team, I’m guessing you already know they scored two goals last night in their match with Cesena in Milan. But as a fan you may or may not know about the goal that went into the net after the game. NUTRILITE and Amway announced last night that they would continue the Goal by Goal Campaign in support of the AC Milan Foundation. Amway Area manager Fabrizio Suaria presented the AC Milan Foundation with a check for US $85,000, a total that represents the 34 goals scored in the first half of the season. Star player Pato accepted the check on behalf of the team and the foundation.

And now that the second half of the season has begun, every time an AC Milan player scores a goal NUTRILITE and Amway will donate US $2500 to the foundation. The money raised will fund the construction of a multi-purpose sports center for children in a depressed, at risk area of Naples, Italy.

Over the past three years the Goal by Goal campaign, as part of Amway’s One by One Campaign for Children, has donated US $250,000 to the AC Milan Foundation.

NUTRILITE is a premier sponsor of the AC Milan soccer team and our scientists work directly with MilanLab’s scientists to provide nutritional consulting and supplementation choices to players on the team.

It’s becoming clear to me how influential the AC Milan soccer team is. Because, really, if you know something about soccer, you know AC Milan. And if you know something about vitamins and nutrition, you know, and “like”, NUTRILITE.

Amway supports non-profit organizations around the world in many ways. Sometimes, the most valuable gifts we can give aren’t just time or money, but expertise that can help an organization improve its operations.

Amway, as part of its One by One Campaign for Children, supports Kids Food Basket, a Grand Rapids organization that provides ”sack suppers” for kids who might not otherwise get meals at home.  

Our experts worked with Kids Food Basket to map and streamline their processes.  The result?  Improvements that mean more meals are packed in a shorter period of time, helping Kids Food Basket feed more children. 

This innovative effort captured the attention of  the Business Civic Leadership Center of the US Chamber of Commerce, which named Amway a finalist in the “Partnership” category of its Corporate Citizenship Awards.

The recognition is nice.  But we’re even prouder of our role in helping a great organization “do good” even better.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

You didn’t just think interns spent their days in the office in front of the computer, did you? Good, because we definitely don’t! Just as we work hard, we play hard, too. And that includes giving back to our community through volunteering.

On Monday about 50 interns got to spend some time with kids through volunteering for the One by One Intern Carnival at Urban Family Ministries. We arrived early to help set up the activities which included inflatable bouncy pens, face painting, and a dunk tank sporting one of our very own interns. Also, some interns got to practice their cooking skills by serving hotdogs, popcorn and snow cones.

Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic day. It felt very rewarding to be able to give back to the community by making children smile and offering a little fun during their day.

When Amway launched its One by One Campaign for Children in 2003, it did so to align and focus our efforts on making life better for kids worldwide.

And that little change made a big difference.

Today at the One by One blog we announced total giving and impact since the program’s launch.  And it’s impressive – in seven years we’ve helped seven million children through 200,000 employee and distributor volunteer hours and more than  $112 million in cash donations.  Read the blog post to learn more about how this time and money helps kids in more than 50 countries.

And consider this…every hour was given by an individual distributor or employee who chose to make a difference in a child’s life.

If you’re currently a One by One volunteer, thanks for your efforts.

If you’re thinking about helping, visit www.amwayglobal.com in the U.S. and Canada or your affiliate’s web site in your market.  There are lots of ways to help and children who need you.

After all, as the numbers prove, if we all do a little, it adds up to a lot!

Helping Haiti recover from this month’s devastating earthquake will take billions of dollars and millions of volunteer hours.

And a bit of ingenuity.

In addition to the aid provided through cash donations, personal hygiene kits and relief flights, this week Amway was proud to partner with several local companies, led by Cascade Engineering, to help assemble and provide water chlorination and safe storage kits for Haiti.

Read more about this the One by One Blog.

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

Last month, a bunch of interns came together with Urban Family Ministries to host a carnival in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich.  It was beautiful day and the kids had a blast. Check out this video to see what how the interns contributed. You can also read Aaron’s post to learn more about the carnival.

If the video does appear for you, please click here.

Enjoy!

Editor’s Note:  This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.

If you thought we spend all of our time in cubicles and at meetings

indoors…NOT TRUE! Though hard workers, as interns at Amway we do

venture out into the world and participate in activities in the

community with each other. These activities include things like

networking opportunities, community service, and just plain fun events!

We thought it would be great to keep you updated on some of the

events interns participate in outside of the workplace, so to start

off, here is a video from the recent KaBOOM!

playground build event coordinated by the Corporate Citizenship

department. Rick, Aaron, and Austin joined over 250 people from Amway’s

Manufacturing department and the surrounding community to build a

playground at Congress Elementary School in Grand Rapids, MI in one

day!

Check out Kim Drabik’s post on the Amway One by One Campaign for Children blog for more information about the event and to view some great photos!