VOLUNTEERISM – We’re Here To Help

Harris has a long history of actively supporting our communities. We encourage employees to volunteer their time in the communities where they live and work, and provide vehicles for them to do so.

While there are many volunteer activities organized at the corporate level, Harris also recognizes that employees are involved in a number of activities based on issues close to their own hearts. Harris awards outstanding employee volunteers at an annual volunteer recognition event.

Harris volunteers are passionate and committed, and give many hours of their own time to support our communities. The following are a few examples of Harris volunteerism in the community:

Financial Education
Supporting financial education is a top priority at Harris. Employees volunteer annually during Money Smart week, a series of financial literacy workshops throughout the Chicagoland area, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank. Throughout the year, Harris employees conduct educational seminars on topics such as money matters, home buying and budgeting.

Harris employees volunteer with Junior Achievement, a worldwide non-profit economic education organization working to prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Employees teach a weekly class on a variety of topics about the economics of life, including how to balance a checkbook or create a personal budget. Harris also hosts an annual fundraising event, the Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon.

Harris sponsors the Save For America program at a number of school sites and through organizations with a focus on youth. Save For America is a national bank-at-school program whose purpose is to help teach children the value of saving money for the future. The program is designed to let children watch their earnings grow with compound interest, encouraging financial literacy. The program encourages weekly consistent savings.

Humanitarian Efforts
Harris was among the first Chicago-area companies to provide relief to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which devastated parts of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi in August 2005. Harris employees volunteered their time to help those forced to relocate to Chicago get settled in their new city. Furthermore, Harris and its employees donated more than $300,000 to relief efforts. Harris also donated money to those impacted by the tsunami in Asia.

Tutoring Programs
Harris employees have been involved with tutoring and mentoring young people throughout Chicagoland. Harris has provided volunteers to elementary schools in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago for several years. Harris employees currently tutor second through eighth grade students in reading and math at L.E.A.R.N. Charter Elementary School and Henson Elementary School in North Lawndale, helping to boost the student’s confidence and achieve improved results in the classroom.

Walks/Runs
Harris employees participated in a number of charitable walks and runs throughout the year, including the March of Dimes WalkAmerica, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night walk and the United Negro College Fund's (UNCF) annual walk/run/bike/skate. Hundreds of employees participated in these walks and raised thousands of dollars for these worthy causes.