NORTHBROOK, Ill., Sept. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 1,000 Astellas employees stepped away from the office today to volunteer across the United States as part of the 10th annual Changing Tomorrow Day. On Changing Tomorrow Day (#ChangingTomorrow)—Astellas' global day of service—employees volunteered together at 16 diverse community and patient organizations, homeless shelters and other nonprofits to make a positive, measurable impact in local communities.

"Giving back and improving the lives of others is core to our culture, and our day of service is a unique opportunity for Astellas employees to volunteer directly with organizations that share a common purpose of helping patients and diverse, underserved populations to create healthier communities," said Percival Barretto-Ko, president of Astellas US. "Our employees are proud to have volunteered more than 140,000 hours of their time over the past 10 years, and we are honored to continue increasing our impact by partnering with such dedicated community organizations each year."

Activities during the day included:

• Creating blankets for hospice and palliative patients at JourneyCare and cancer patients through Phil's Friends in the Chicago area.
• Painting rooms at Fisher House for families staying with veterans undergoing treatment at Hines VA hospital, and at El Rescate for homeless LGBTQ and/or HIV-positive youth in Chicago.
• Creating art kits and superhero bracelets for pediatric patients at UMASS Memorial Hospital and Medical Center in Marlborough, MA.
• Transforming wasted food into balanced meals for the community at DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C.

"Thanks to the support of Astellas employees, we are now able to brighten the day of so many local residents battling cancer," said Phil Zielke, Founder and CEO, from Phil's Friends. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Astellas and its employees for our third Changing Tomorrow Day, and each year we are grateful for their dedication and passion in helping us to make a meaningful difference for cancer patients in the local community."

Changing Tomorrow Day is a series of company-sponsored volunteer events for Astellas employees to donate their time to local nonprofit organizations in helping to build a brighter future for patients, people, communities and partners. More than 65 non-profit organizations across the Americas have partnered with Astellas on Changing Tomorrow Day, and on a global basis, the company supported more than 230 locations in approximately 25 countries just last year.

In 2019, Astellas is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of its day of service in the region by recording 80,000 Changing Tomorrow Day volunteer hours in total over the decade. Through this year's Changing Tomorrow Day, employees will record more than 9,000 hours towards this goal with volunteer events continuing through October.  

Astellas' commitment to Changing Tomorrow extends beyond the global day of service. Astellas employees are Committing for Change through dedicated service to raise up local communities while helping to create brighter futures for patients. Astellas also offers full-time employees up to five paid days off annually to volunteer at charitable organizations of their choice and further impact the health and wellbeing of patients, neighbors and communities in need.

About Astellas

Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com/us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma.

SOURCE Astellas