Helping People in Need
Through philanthropy and volunteerism, Bristol-Myers Squibb and its employees are helping provide care and support for some of the most vulnerable citizens of our local communities.
Today, when so many people are struggling, we lend a helping hand to those most in need: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the elderly and the disabled. We collaborate with numerous organizations to provide basic human needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Here are a few examples:
- HomeFront
HomeFront, a non-profit group based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, works with families to break the cycle of poverty. Bristol-Myers Squibb recently helped to meet sharply increasing demand on Homefront's food pantry and other programs providing meals to homeless and low-income families in Mercer County.
- Dress for Success Mercer County
Dress for Success Mercer County was organized by Bristol-Myers Squibb employees and founded through a start-up grant from the company. An affiliate of Dress for Success Worldwide, the organization promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire and a network of support and career development tools to help them succeed in work and life.
- Elijah’s Promise
Based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Elijah’s Promise operates a soup kitchen, a culinary arts school and a catering business that prepare low-income students for food service employment while providing meals to children and families in need. A recent Bristol-Myers Squibb grant helps fund the Healthy Kitchen program at Elijah’s Promise, an effort to improve the health of soup kitchen patrons through better nutrition.
- Interfaith Caregivers of Trenton
More and more frail elderly and disabled people are living alone. With limited mobility and financial resources, many require help with the simplest tasks of daily life. Interfaith Caregivers Trenton/Faith in Action matches these individuals with volunteers from area religious congregations and community groups who assist with things like home maintenance, chores, paperwork and food shopping. A grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb is helping this organization recruit, screen, train and manage these volunteers, whose efforts permit this vulnerable population to continue living safely in their homes.
- The Rescue Mission of Trenton
Bristol-Myers Squibb helps The Rescue Mission of Trenton provide a safe refuge for needy men and women. The New Jersey mission offers food, shelter and supportive services to the homeless, the hungry, the transient and to people with drug or alcohol addictions..
- Vera House
Bristol-Myers Squibb employees in Syracuse, New York use a good many Tyvek® jump suits, which they put on whenever they enter the facility’s sterilized manufacturing areas. These worn gowns don’t go to waste, however. In a win-win for the environment and an important local cause, the company recycles them and donates the proceeds to Vera House, a non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter, counseling, advocacy and education to women in the Syracuse community. This effort has raised more than $43,000 for Vera House in the past eight years.