EDEN PRAIRIE, MN – GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services announced it won the Best Caring Connection award bestowed by United Way at the "Best Of Awards" for the Greater Twin Cities. GE was recognized for its Global Community Days event, at which GE volunteers participated in a day-long project for CommonBond Communities, the largest nonprofit developer, manager, and full-service provider of affordable homes in the upper Midwest.
The "Best Of Awards" are Greater Twin Cities United Way's Academy Awards for corporate partners. The Caring Connection campaign is used to engage employees through volunteerism. The award winner is selected based on the volunteer project, percentage of employees who participate, number of hours completed, and completed project.
"The GE Community Days event is a way for our employees to contribute their skills to improve the communities where they live and work," said Clarence Nunn, president and CEO of GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services. "We are delighted that we were able to make such a difference in our community by working with the United Way and CommonBond Communities."
GE's Community Days event, held in association with the United Way Campaign 2008, was the largest single volunteer effort for GE and helped raise over $300,000. Overall, the campaign had an 89-percent participation rate and raised approximately $377 per person.
More than 400 volunteers from GE worked eight hours at the CommonBond Torre de San Miguel housing complex to help reduce the facility's environmental footprint and improve the site's landscape. CommonBond estimates it saved $200,000 in labor costs thanks to the volunteers.
In total, GE's volunteers spent more than 1,400 hours making improvements to the housing complex including:
Placing 12,000 square feet of mulch in gardens around the 142 housing units.
Unrolling 45,000 square feet of sod over muddy front yards.
Planting 850 shrubs and perennials.
Creating a rain garden.
Building a brick retaining wall.
About GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services
GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services (www.gefleet.com) based in Eden Prairie, Minn., is a global fleet management company with operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. GE Capital Solutions (www.ge.com/capitalsolutions) provides leasing, lending and capital investment products and services to help businesses grow. General Electric is Imagination at Work - a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems.
