Community Involvement
At Ashland, we're community builders – inspired, engaged and committed to making our communities the best they can be.

For nearly 100 years, we've been reaching out and getting involved – working for the greater good, investing in people and the neighborhoods we call home around the world. We strive to be a responsive corporate citizen in the ever-growing, ever-changing global community.

For us, community involvement means more than becoming members of the community; it also means acknowledging that we have a responsibility to do the right thing and honor our pledge to maintain our status as a good corporate citizen.

Volunteerism
We encourage, assist and applaud our thousands of employee volunteers – in all their many community-building activities. Ashland employees and retirees serve as teachers, mentors, advisers, consultants and counselors throughout their communities. We feed the hungry, raise funds for medical research, build and repair homes for those in need and clean up riverbanks, roadways and other dump sites. We're Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentors, Junior Achievement advisers, leadership trainers, providers of meals to the homebound, and volunteer firefighters.

Ashland assists agencies that give others a hand-up. An example is Habitat for Humanity, with whom we partner in making the dream of home ownership come true. Nearly every year employees participate in Habitat builds within their communities.

Employee Giving Campaign
Together with our employees, Ashland supports community health and human services organizations through an annual, companywide Employee Giving Campaign. The campaign offers employees the ability to direct donations to a number of organizations; in turn, Ashland matches employees' donations dollar for dollar. During our most recent campaign, employees were able to choose among America's Second Harvest, the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Earth Share, Global Impact, Habitat for Humanity and the United Way to receive their support. We believe offering a variety of options lets employees direct funding to organizations that are meaningful to them and provides a means of helping the greatest number of people – in our neighborhoods and around the world – with our contributions.

Enhancing the Environment
Ashland is committed to environmental, health, safety and security excellence. We demonstrate that commitment through Responsible Care* an initiative of the American Chemistry Council and similar groups around the world focused on improving performance, communication and accountability. Through open, transparent dialogue, we address operational concerns and establish relationships and/or partnerships that address community needs.

At times, we are able to combine our focus on education and the environment. We recently lent a hand to assist in the development of a major nature preserve in downtown Columbus, Ohio, that will feature 200 species of wildlife, protected wetlands, an education center and walking trails. We also enhance community by financing green space. By supporting the U.S. Trust for Public Land and greenland adoption in Changzhou, China, Ashland helps conserve land for parks, gardens and other natural places and ensure enjoyable communities for generations to come.

Ashland is also a sponsor of Ohio River Sweep, an annual project to rid trash and debris from 3,000 miles of Ohio River and tributary shoreline in partnership with state agencies, community groups and others. In 2008, through the efforts of approximately 21,000 Ohio River Valley citizens, more than 20,000 tons of trash and debris was collected. Thanks to our efforts elsewhere, wildlife has returned to areas that were previously used for oil production, and in Spain, Ashland works as a corporate sponsor to clean sea beds along the coastal area of Benicarló.

If you have questions or comments, click here to contact our Community Relations Manager.

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