“We call it living the Astellas Way,” said Moyra Knight, vice president, Corporate Communications and president of Astellas Global Health Foundation. “It’s the actions we take every day – in our work and personal lives – to realize our commitment to changing tomorrow for our communities while helping to create brighter futures for patients and each other.”

In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Week, we have highlighted examples from six employees who have personally given back outside of business hours.

• Jessica V. of Carmen, Indiana, volunteers with multiple organizations on weekends and evenings, including working alongside her 13-year-old daughter at the National Charity League and putting together hygiene bags for families in need and honoring World War II veterans.
• Barbara D. of Winter Garden, Florida, keeps several “Blessings in a Bag” in her car, which include a restaurant gift card, hand sanitizer, toiletries, socks, and more, to hand out to those who are struggling.
• Christy N. in Northbrook, Illinois, collects hygiene items, cleaning supplies, coats, and other necessary items to help those particularly disadvantaged during the pandemic, including domestic violence survivors and people living with disabilities.
• Paige K. of Brooklyn, New York, spends her Sundays volunteering with Clinton Hill/Fort Greene Mutual Aid reaching out to community members in isolation due to COVID-19, while coordinating food and prescription deliveries and personal protective equipment drop-offs.
• Joleen B. in Monument, Colorado, helps her neighbors in many ways, including completing yard work, grocery shopping, cooking meals, making masks (including ones that can be worn while playing instruments), and organizing a neighborhood yard yoga activity every Saturday morning.

These acts of personal service demonstrate our culture of volunteerism in which Astellas offers full-time employees up to five days of paid time off each year to volunteer at charitable organizations of their choice on company time.  Most recently, 600 employees recorded 1,000 volunteer hours through participation in the company’s second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The company also organizes Changing Tomorrow Day, an annual day of service, including last year’s event, in which more than 1,400 employees remotely served 6,000 hours.

Expand the Kindness Movement!

For additional inspiration to get involved and give back in your community, below are a few ways to support non-profit organizations that Astellas partners with throughout the year:

• Blessings in a Backpack – Help feed elementary school children in need by creating notecards, signing up for a packing event, and more.
• Lamb’s Farm – Volunteer your time in the on-site café and country store, assist with landscaping, help take care of rescue puppies, and more at Lamb’s Farm and help people with developmental disabilities lead productive, happy lives. 
• Phil’s Friends – Color and decorate greeting cards, make fleece tie blankets, or sign up for an in-person packing event to support people impacted by cancer through care packages.
• Feed My Starving Children:  Pack meal ingredients for the hungry.