• The Ford Volunteer Corps has enlisted hundreds of Ford employees for a day of community service to support children and families

• Ford Motor Company Fund provided $57,000 in grants to purchase tools and supplies for volunteer projects

• Ford MODEL Teams are at work in locations selected by nonprofit partners

The helping hands of the Ford Volunteer Corps are working for children and families on a Ford Accelerated Action Day. More than 500 Ford employees are participating at 32 nonprofit locations across southeast Michigan.

MODEL Teams of Ford volunteers are painting shelters, renovating family centers and helping to build homes. Many of the participating organizations will share more than $57,000 in Ford grants to buy the tools, supplies and materials needed to complete their projects.

“We’re utilizing our people and our resources to lay the foundation for a brighter future in our communities,” said Jim Vella, president, Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services. “Children and families are the back bone of strong communities. By helping them succeed, we’re helping our communities grow and prosper.”

Nonprofit partners in southeast Michigan receiving up to $5,000 in grants for today’s projects include:

• Arts & Scraps, Detroit – Organize and inventory robots materials

• Focus: Hope, Detroit – Create family literacy area at Center for Children

• Girl Scouts of SE Michigan, Detroit – Assemble learning kits for girls

• Grandmont Rosedale Development, Detroit – Transform vacant house into a family’s home

• Habitat for Humanity, Monroe – Install flooring and hang kitchen cabinets

• Junior Achievement, Detroit – Assist students with financial literacy exercises

• Matrix Human Services, Detroit – Pack baby shower baskets with infant necessities

• Methodist Children’s Home, Redford – Clean, paint and create a sensory wall

• Northville Community Foundation, Northville – Secure flooring in Maybury Farm barn

• Penrickton Center, Taylor – Restore resonance boards and repaint murals

• Ruth Ellis Center, Detroit – Paint residential facility

• Salvation Army, Denby Center, Detroit – Refresh residential cottages

• Starfish Family Services, Inkster – Participate in literacy activities with children

• Vista Maria, Dearborn Heights – Paint interior common areas and living quarters for girls

• World Medical Relief, Detroit – Assemble basic hygiene kits

Ford volunteers are active in the community throughout the year and around the world. Thousands of Ford employees gather on six continents during Ford Global Week of Caring in September to perform critical community service work in their home towns and villages. On Ford Accelerated Action Days, the Ford Volunteer Corps concentrates on high-priority projects.

“Ford employees are not only painting and building, but also mentoring young people and engaging children in educational activities,” said Janet Lawson, director, Ford Volunteer Corps. “We also Go Further by collecting diapers and baby formula to help the youngest at-risk members of our community.”