Today is a very exciting day at Comcast NBCUniversal as more than 100,000 of our employees, their families, and friends are working alongside hundreds of our local nonprofit partners to beautify and improve about 900 project sites around the globe for one of our company’s best traditions – Comcast Cares Day. 

What began as a relatively small day of service in 2001 with a few thousand volunteers and a handful of projects has now grown into the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort.  Since that time, more than 800,000 volunteers will have contributed more than 4 million service hours on almost 8,000 projects, and more than $18 million in contributions will have been given to our community partners by the Comcast Foundation.  It’s really remarkable how much has been accomplished. 

To celebrate our 15th anniversary of Comcast Cares Day, we have incorporated two fantastic and impactful company partnerships focused on ending extreme poverty and fighting inequality and injustice here in the United States and around the world: Global Citizen and Red Nose Day. 

Red Nose Day uses the power of entertainment to raise awareness and money to lift kids out of poverty and has raised over $1.5 billion globally in the last 25 years.  Global Citizen empowers everyday citizens to use their voices to influence world leaders and decision-makers on issues of world poverty.

We’re always looking for additional ways to do more at our company and to use our technology to benefit the communities we serve.  Collectively, Comcast Cares Day, Red Nose Day and Global Citizen stand for our company’s commitment to joint action by our employees to serve, and to take on big and important issues.

I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in two projects today.  My first stop is P.S. 149, the Sojourner Truth Middle School in New York City, where I’ll join nearly 300 NBCUniversal volunteers who will paint murals, clear out underutilized classrooms to create additional learning space, and prepare healthy eating kits for students.  We’ll also have an activation station for Global Citizen where volunteers can learn more about how they can get involved with the organization.

I’ll then head to Boston where approximately 500 volunteers will be working to create both a physical and social impact in the Codman Square section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, including painting murals at Tech Boston and Lee Academy; assembling more than 1,000 student testing support kits; and assisting teens as they teach computer skills to neighborhood senior citizens at the Dorchester YMCA.

Comcast Cares Day is a true celebration of Comcast NBCUniversal’s commitment to our communities, and I’m grateful to all of the volunteers who are helping to make change happen on Comcast Cares Day. 

It is my hope that what we accomplish today and through Red Nose Day and Global Citizen will leave a mark in our communities for years to come.