Community Service 2009 Company of the Week

January 5 , 2009

When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, MasterCard Worldwide immediately sprang into action donating $1 million to the American Red Cross and Americares to support the relief efforts. MasterCard also initiated a relief program in which personal donations made by its global employee base were double matched by the company. Since that time, MasterCard employees in the U.S. Region made continued efforts to stay involved in the New Orleans community to show their continued commitment to the people who were impacted the hardest by the horrific storm.

As an example of that commitment, in mid-2008, scores of MasterCard employees refurbished a community park in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward -- a neighborhood nearly all but washed away by Katrina. MasterCard employee Brigette White, inspired by her involvement in refurbishing the park that day, discovered a non-profit organization that restores old musical instruments called the Steven Spring Foundation (SSF). The SSF's charge is to put gently used instruments in the hands of music students who are most in need, in and around New Orleans. White and MasterCard U.S. Region President Tim Murphy, who now heads up MasterCard Global Core Products, helped launch a collection program in which MasterCard employees could donate their old musical instruments with a note explaining where the instrument came from and what it meant to them.

From guitars and clarinets to keyboards and pianos, MasterCard employees in eight U.S. offices collected more than 50 gently used musical instruments in December which are now in the process of being shipped to the SSF in New Orleans for refurbishment and distribution to music students in the surrounding communities. The MasterCard U.S. Region also made a $5,000 donation to the SSF as part of this program.

Congratulations, MasterCard Worldwide!

For more CS09 Company of the Week articles, please visit: http://www.fsround.org/community/community_service_company_archive.html

For more information on CS09 Company of the Week, please contact Aleksia@fsround.org.

Pictured from left to right: Laurie Fee; Tim Murphy; Brigette White; and Theresa Craw.

Click Here to view a list of our past Companies of the Week.