Volunteerism

In 2006, AstraZeneca launched its Healthcare Heroes program, which matches our employees with volunteering opportunities at healthcare facilities in and around Wilmington, DE. It gives members of the AstraZeneca community several ways to get involved and make a difference in the lives of local patients. Varied levels of involvement and flexible scheduling make the program easy to participate in for everyone. All AstraZeneca employees are encouraged to volunteer, with two hours a month set aside for paid volunteer time.

AstraZeneca Ambassadors is another unique program that brings hundreds of AstraZeneca employees and retirees together to help residents throughout the region surrounding our Wilmington headquarters. AstraZeneca Ambassadors encourages, trains and enables employees and retirees to volunteer for company-endorsed nonprofit organizations. National organizations such as the Points of Light Foundation have recognized AstraZeneca for our innovative approach to employee volunteering. Over the past two years, approximately 75% of employees have volunteered for a company-endorsed cause.

Team volunteer projects are also popular. It’s not uncommon for groups within AstraZeneca to take on a project – such as the Scientific Affairs team’s recent outreach to Pete’s Farm in Chester County, PA. Part of a greater county initiative, the team worked to glean food for its less fortunate residents. Another popular project is maintenance of Brian’s House – a nonprofit home for children and adults with mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities. The staff is overwhelmed with patient care, so AstraZeneca employees volunteered to scrub windows, clean picnic tables and spruce up the outside porch. A lot of projects like this have turned into regular occurrences, building relationships with the outreach organizations in our communities.