Aetna Employees Honored For Workplace Volunteerism
The Points of Light Foundation honors Aetna’s culture of caring with award for excellence in workplace volunteering
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 5, 2005 — Aetna (NYSE: ΑET) today received a 2005 Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs from The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network. The award, presented during the organization’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington, D.C.,
is an international award that honors businesses that have made a commitment to effectively engaging employees in volunteering. Aetna is one of six companies
receiving this honor.
"Workplace volunteering can have a profound impact on employees, communities and
the long-term success of a company," said Robert K. Goodwin, president and CEO of
The Points of Light Foundation. "Aetna is a shining example of the role that businesses can play in alleviating social problems and bringing about healthier communities."
"Every day, Aetna employees across the country demonstrate their compassion and commitment to building healthy communities where we live and work," said Marilda Gandara, president of the Aetna Foundation who accepted the award on behalf of Aetna’s employees. "Over 48% of Aetna employees participate in company-sponsored volunteer activities. This extraordinary commitment has created what is now recognized as Aetna’s culture of caring – a tradition of volunteerism that has become a part of Aetna’s long history."
Aetna Employees Reaching Out (AERO) is a multifaceted volunteer program that encourages and supports employee participation. Known as "Brawn, Bucks and Blood,"
AERO’s three-pronged approach to community involvement emphasizes employee volunteerism on service projects, participation by Aetna’s senior managers and employees on boards of public institutions and professional associations, and blood drives and educational programs to promote tissue and organ donations. Aetna also sponsors a corporate match program that to date has contributed over $8 million to local communities by matching employees’ charitable donations to non-for-profit organizations.
Aetna employees reap more than personal satisfaction from their efforts. Eighty-nine percent of Aetna volunteers report professional skills development and 80 percent report improved team skills. Aetna benefits too. Volunteers are 10 percent more likely than non-volunteers to understand Aetna’s corporate values, and 7 percent more likely to rate Aetna as a good place to work.
The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network engages and mobilizes millions of volunteers who help solve serious social problems in thousands
of communities. Through a variety of programs and services, the Foundation encourages people from all walks of life – businesses, faith-based organizations, low-income communities, families, youth, and older adults – to volunteer. For more information,
call (202) 729-8000 or
visit www.PointsofLight.org.
As one of the nation’s leading providers of health care, dental, pharmacy, group life, disability and long-term care benefits, Aetna puts information and helpful resources to work for its approximately 14.435 million medical members, 12.976 million dental members, 9.117 million pharmacy members and 13.662 million group insurance members to help them make better informed decisions about their health care and protect their finances against health-related risks. Aetna provides easy access to cost-effective health care through a nationwide network of more than 684,000 health care professionals, including over 405,000 primary care and specialist doctors and 4,135 hospitals. For more information, please visit www.aetna.com. (Figures as of June 30, 2005)
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