Siemens Healthcare is Leading the Way During the Season of Giving

Over $740,000 has already been raised this year for organizations and charities around the country through employee contribution efforts and matching company donations. 


MALVERN, Pa., Dec. 22  /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Healthcare  (http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) made significant contributions to the US communities where it operates, pledging over $740,000 this holiday season as part of its annual giving campaign for organizations and charities throughout the US through volunteer opportunities, employee contributions, and matching company donations. Of that amount, $231,141 resulted from first-time donors and those who increased their contributions from 2007. The money raised is part of an annual drive by the company to give back to the community and support those in need.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO )

Many Siemens Healthcare employees nationwide volunteer year-round through various organizations. Each fall the Siemens Caring Hands Committee, the company-sponsored, employee-led group that oversees the company's annual US giving campaign, coordinates an effort to involve employees in a wide selection of pre-planned volunteer activities occurring near its Siemens Healthcare business unit locations.

The goal of the campaign, which ran from September 15 though November 21, was to secure annual pledges for the Siemens Caring Hands Foundation and United Way agencies across the country that rely on support to provide health and human services to those in need. Any Siemens employee could participate in this campaign and the company matches 30 percent of every dollar employees donate.

"The employees of Siemens Healthcare are proud to once again be the number one contributor to our local United Way program," said Roselle Charlier, VP of Corporate Communications for Siemens Healthcare in the US and volunteer board member of the United Way of Chester County.  "We recognize that tough times are particularly challenging for those with less, and appreciate the opportunity to partner with the United Way and Siemens Caring Hands Foundation to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work."

This year, employees had a myriad of worthwhile causes to choose from. Highlights included:

  --  A September employee food drive for PhilAbundance, a local nonprofit
      organization fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley,
      that resulted in over 30 boxes of food being delivered to the charity.

  --  October Days of Caring saw 189 employees volunteer over 1,300 hours
      for specific activities ranging from painting a local daycare center,
      to landscaping at a nature sanctuary, to chaperoning handicapped
      adults on a field trip, for United Way-supported agencies in the
      community.

  --  During October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Siemens locally
      sponsored the American Cancer Society's Philadelphia Making Strides
      Against Breast Cancer Walk, where over 100 employees helped Siemens
      earn top company and fundraising honors, contributing more than
      $15,000 to the cause. In total, 191 Siemens employees across the US
      raised nearly $30,000 for continued breast cancer research through
      various walks, runs, and other-related activities.

  --  Also this season, over 700 Siemens Healthcare employees participated
      in the Sponsor-a-Child program through the Delaware Valley Children's
      Charity, sponsoring over 350 children-in-need with holiday gifts.




Other employee volunteer opportunities offered through the fall campaign included a Siemens Caring Hands-sponsored charity golf classic, the American Heart Association's Heart Walk for heart-healthy living, and assembling welcome bundles of needed items for infants, toddlers, and the elderly for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania's Visiting Nurses Association.

Siemens Caring Hands $10K Grant

Also this year, Siemens Caring Hands will donate $10,000 to a worthy organization that serves the needs of children and adolescents. The committee will soon name the winning United Way organization after choosing from over 130 grant applications received from across the US.

Teddy Bears Delivered to Paoli Hospital

This month, members of Siemens syngo Workflow team delivered over 100 stuffed animals to Paoli Hospital, Paoli, Pennsylvania, to help stockpile the healthcare organization's supply of teddy bears it hands out to children and elderly patients admitted through its emergency room. Dubbed 'A Bear for Every Child', the campaign was initiated by a group of Siemens employees who were seeking to replace their department's traditional holiday gift-giving exercise with something that would have a greater community impact. After contacting Paoli Hospital to determine what possible areas of giving existed, Siemens learned that the hospital's supply of bears was running low and required a donation to keep the tradition on track.

"The marvel of the Siemens Caring Hands volunteering efforts and donations is its power at both a personal and a corporate level," said Bob Holiday, Director of Development for the United Way of Chester County. "The overall campaign touches the hearts and minds of thousands of individuals, and the donors impact lives in communities across 46 of 50 states in the USA! It's truly a remarkable accomplishment."

The Siemens Healthcare Sector is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first integrated healthcare company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care -- from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. Additionally, Siemens Healthcare is the global market leader in innovative hearing instruments. The company employs around 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2008 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of euro 11.2 billion, orders of euro 11.8 billion, and Sector profit of euro 1.2 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare. 

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DATASOURCE: Siemens Healthcare



CONTACT:  Gian Sachdev, Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc., Healthcare

Sector - Imaging & IT Division, [phone],  



Web Site:  http://www.siemens.com/healthcare 

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