Helping People in Need
Through philanthropy and volunteerism, Bristol-Myers Squibb and its employees are helping provide care and support for some of the most vulnerable citizens of our local communities.
Today, when so many people are struggling, we lend a helping hand to those most in need: the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the elderly and the disabled. We collaborate with numerous organizations to provide basic human needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Here are a few examples:
- Feeding the Hungry
Bristol-Myers Squibb has provided financial support to groups that help feed needy families, such as Elijah’s Promise, a New Brunswick, New Jersey, group that operates a soup kitchen, culinary arts school and catering business that prepare low-income students for employment, and provide meals to children and families in need. A recent Bristol-Myers Squibb grant helped fund the organization’s Healthy Kitchen program, an effort to improve the health of soup kitchen patrons through better nutrition. Bristol-Myers Squibb has also supported Isles, a community development and environmental organization in Trenton, New Jersey, and its Urban Agriculture for Trenton initiative that helps turn abandoned city lots into community gardens. Also in Trenton, Bristol-Myers Squibb has assisted Trenton Areas Community Services, an organization that collects and distributes food for needy families.
- Fighting Homelessness
Bristol-Myers Squibb is proud to assist a number of organizations working to provide shelter and other necessities for people in need. These include: HomeFront, the Rescue Mission of Trenton and the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton, which each offer food, shelter and supportive services to the homeless and the hungry in and around Trenton, New Jersey. Bristol-Myers Squibb has also supported the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness, and its “Project Homeless Connect” outreach program that connects people in Mercer County, New Jersey, who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless with the service agencies that can assist them. In addition, support from Bristol-Myers Squibb has helped Habitat for Humanity-Trenton Area do more to meet the needs of struggling families through its East Trenton Center, which offers an emergency food pantry, a clothing distribution program, a learning center and other services.
- Helping Neighbors When Disaster Strikes
Support from Bristol-Myers Squibb has assisted the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey and its Emergency Services Program, which helps people in the aftermath of emergencies such as fires and floods, with a focus on low-income populations. By helping to meet people’s immediate needs with food, clothing, shelter and other services, the Emergency Services Program enables vulnerable families to recover from disasters that may otherwise push them into poverty and homelessness.
- Suicide Prevention
A grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb has supported Contact of Mercer County, a New Jersey organization that operates crisis and suicide prevention hotlines where people in crisis reach compassionate specialists who are trained in supportive listening and crisis intervention, and knowledgeable about supportive services available in the community.
- Building a Better Tomorrow
Funding from Bristol-Myers Squibb has enabled New Brunswick Tomorrow, a non-profit civic improvement organization in New Jersey, to expand and strengthen mental health services for children of the New Brunswick Public School District. The School-Based Youth Services Program, managed by New Brunswick Tomorrow, provides comprehensive treatment of mental health issues for students and their families, as well as other services and activities designed to help vulnerable children succeed in school. Bristol-Myers Squibb employees also contribute their time as mentors to students in the School-Based Youth Services Program.
- Helping the Elderly and Homebound
More and more frail elderly and disabled people are living alone. With limited mobility and financial resources, many require help with the simplest tasks of daily life. Interfaith Caregivers Trenton/Faith in Action matches these individuals with volunteers from area religious congregations and community groups who assist with things like home maintenance, chores, paperwork and food shopping. A grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb is helping this organization recruit, screen, train and manage these volunteers, whose efforts permit this vulnerable population to continue living safely in their homes.
- Helping Women and Children in Need
Bristol-Myers Squibb employees in Syracuse, New York use a good many Tyvek® jump suits, which they put on whenever they enter the facility’s sterilized manufacturing areas. These worn gowns don’t go to waste, however. In a win-win for the environment and an important local cause, the company recycles them and donates the proceeds to Vera House, a non-profit organization that provides emergency shelter, counseling, advocacy and education to women in the Syracuse community. This effort has raised more than $43,000 for Vera House in the past eight years.