Community Impact
Quick Takes
RED NOSE DAY RAISES $23 MILLION IN STATESIDE DEBUT
More than 100 celebrities were "funny for money" during NBC’s Red Nose Day comedy telethon, raising more than $23 million to fight childhood poverty. Red Nose Day is a cultural mainstay in the U.K., but May 21 marked the charity’s American debut with an entertainment special on NBC.
Over three hours, stars of the stage and screen performed skits, songs, and stand-up routines to benefit children and young people living in poverty in the U.S., Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Proceeds from the telethon will benefit a dozen charities, including some of Comcast NBCUniversal’s national partners such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America, LIFT, National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, and United Way.
Red Nose Day got its start nearly 30 years ago and has since become a British institution. Every two years, the U.K. celebrates comedy in ways big and small – from star-studded entertainment events to small fundraisers in offices and schools –raising more than $1 billion to date for people living in poverty.
NBC’s live special, which featured celebrities like Seth Meyers, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Keith Urban and videos from Julia Roberts, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, and the cast of HBO’s Game of Thrones, generated $23 million in donations and substantial buzz on social media. Red Nose Day was ranked the most social charity special of the 2014-15 television season, with nearly 150,000 tweets helping to expand the impact of Red Nose Day beyond its three-hour broadcast.
BEING A GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN
At Comcast NBCUniversal, we take our commitment seriously to making a long-term, positive impact on our communities. Giving back is at the core of our values, and in 2014, we contributed more than $478 million in cash and in-kind support to nonprofit organizations across the country.
In addition to investing in our community partners, being a good corporate citizen extends to all aspects of our business – from making Comcast NBCUniversal a great place to work, to making sure our programming reflects the diversity of our audiences. To learn more about how we’re doing business in a socially responsible way, check out our 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
COMCAST CARES DAY GOES VIRAL
This spring’s Comcast Cares Day was a record-breaker in terms of turnout, with 100,000 volunteers participating in projects worldwide. Many volunteers and community partners shared their experiences and photos on social media, and #CCDAY trended nationally for an incredible six hours on Twitter.
INVESTING IN THE NEXT-GENERATION
C-SUITE
In June, Comcast executives joined leaders from the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at our company headquarters to present high school student Veronica Durán with a two-year scholarship to the Community College of Philadelphia. Veronica, a senior from Philadelphia’s Thomas A. Edison High School, is the fifth student to receive the Dr. José E. Lebron Scholarship, an award named for Edison High School’s former principal. The scholarship is a part of the Chamber’s Professional Mentoring Network (PMN), which fosters a diverse pipeline of talent by connecting Hispanic youth with professionals, while also exposing those professionals to top executives.
As the founding sponsor of PMN, Comcast hosts networking events, job shadowing days, and an annual youth summit, and our executives serve as mentors. To date, the mentoring network has worked with 3,000 students, including Veronica.
Veronica was raised in Ecuador until her family moved to the United States and Philadelphia’s struggling Fairhill neighborhood two years ago. Veronica started classes at Edison High, where more than 80 percent of students are Hispanic and 96 percent are eligible to receive free or reduced school lunch. Against so many odds, Veronica quickly integrated to her new home and earned straight A’s throughout her senior year. She recently graduated with honors and looks forward to starting accounting classes at the Community College of Philadelphia in the fall.
BIG HONORS FOR BIG SISTER
Karen Perham-Lippman, Comcast’s manager of Community Investment in Western New England, received the 2015 Connecticut Big Sister of the Year Award. She was recognized for her outstanding contributions as a mentor in Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters’ community-based mentoring program and Beyond School Walls, the workplace mentoring program which Karen oversees at Comcast’s office in Berlin, Conn. Karen is one of 325 Comcast employees serving as Bigs in Beyond School Walls to Littles in 15 Comcast offices nationwide.
Karen was matched with her Little Sister Alyssa through Beyond School Walls in 2012, and the two are now connected through Nutmeg’s community-based program. Karen has also been a mentor to three other girls through Beyond School Walls.
INSIDE CI POP QUIZ
Comcast and NASCAR announced an agreement in September 2014 to make XFINITY the title sponsor of the XFINITY Series, a racing series which showcases the sport’s up and coming drivers. To show youth how technology fuels NASCAR, Comcast NBCUniversal is giving Boys & Girls Clubs kids in six cities a behind-the scenes look at the XFINITY Series through special VIP experiences.
Which NASCAR XFINITY Series driver is a former Boys & Girls Club kid?
A. Bubba Wallace
B. Brad Keselowski
C. Ty Dillon
D. Brendan Gaughan
Please email your response to comcast_inthecommunity@cable.comcast.com and note "Inside CI Pop Quiz" in the subject line. Correct responses will be entered in a drawing to win a $100 gift card. Only Comcast NBCUniversal employees are eligible to win. Entries must be received by 5 p.m. EST on Sept. 4, 2015.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, STORY IDEAS
Send your questions, comments, and story ideas to Marcia Gelbart, senior communications director of Community Investment at Comcast, or call (215) 286-8127.
