The Big Give Back: 1,200 Employees Turn Out to Support Global Volunteer Week

One of the pillars of GE Aerospace’s culture is its commitment to pitching in and giving back to the communities where employees live and work. In 2024 alone, GE Aerospace employees logged more than 30,000 volunteer hours and collectively — between the company, its employees, and the GE Aerospace Foundation — made $21.5 million in philanthropic contributions.

This year, to celebrate its first anniversary as a standalone company, GE Aerospace held an inaugural Global Volunteer Week. Over the course of seven days, from March 31 to April 6, more than 1,200 employees participated in 84 volunteer events around the world and contributed more than 3,800 volunteer hours. It was a great example of the company putting one of its key culture principles — respect for people — into action. 

“Lifting people up in the communities where we live and work is truly a team effort,” says Senior Vice President and Chief Technology and Operations Officer Mohamed Ali. “That’s why it was so inspiring to see our GE Aerospace Cincinnati employees come together to support Matthew 25: Ministries in assisting with disaster relief efforts. These efforts are a reminder of the power of extending a helping hand to those who need it most.”

GE Aerospace employees devoted their time and energy to numerous events during Global Volunteer Week. Here is just a small sample of the impact they made in their communities to “lift people up.”

Thirty-two volunteers from the Celma facility in Petropolis, Brazil (some of whom can be seen in this photo), logged 64 hours of volunteer work with Reciclagem de Sucata, where they turned discarded materials and recycling scraps into toys for local schools. The theme of recycling and rehabilitation was echoed halfway around the world in Bengaluru, India, where Janani Kumaresan, a staff enterprise application engineer, noted that she had the privilege of contributing to three key initiatives, including coaching students at SKID Summer Camp, making seed balls to help reforestation efforts in Bandipur National Park, and repainting an eldercare facility. “With 84 volunteer events taking place globally, it is inspiring to see GE Aerospace employees united in the spirit of service and sustainability efforts,” Kumaresan wrote on LinkedIn. “These experiences reinforce the power of collective action in driving positive change.” 

Martha’s Table is a community services organization focused on providing early childhood education, family support, healthy food options, and economic opportunities to the Washington, D.C., community. Eleven volunteers from GE Aerospace bagged groceries for shoppers at one of the organization’s Joyful Food Markets, which provide high-quality, nutritious produce and pantry staples to families at no cost through monthly pop-up events at more than 50 elementary schools in the district.

A cohort of high school students studying engineering in GE Aerospace’s Next Engineers Academy Program in Cincinnati, Ohio, got to see some of the inner workings of the Peebles Test Operations (PTO) site in Peebles, Ohio, on April 6. Christopher Philp, an executive manufacturing enablement leader, snapped this selfie with the group inside one of the test cells. Philp and two of his colleagues, Lori McGrath and Jose Gonsalez, led the tour. “It’s amazing to see the impact this development program is having and the growth the students have made over the past year,” Philp noted on LinkedIn. “Thanks to all the volunteers at PTO who made this tour possible. Such an impactful way to give back!”

In Singapore, GE Aerospace employees joined together to declutter, paint, and clean the homes of physically and mentally challenged residents through Helping Joy, a local charity organization currently providing aid to more than 500 vulnerable individuals living in “unhealthy conditions.” The 18 volunteers contributed an impressive 126 hours of their time to the project. 

Thirteen GE Aerospace volunteers logged 39 hours packing food into “Boxes of Hope” for 450 homeless students inside the warehouse at Hearts with Hands, a charitable organization based in Asheville, North Carolina, that directs aid to victims of famine, natural disasters, and poverty. In a similar volunteer engagement, a group of employees in Lynn, Massachusetts, spent the day providing free meals to men, women, and children in need at My Brother’s Table, the largest soup kitchen in Boston’s North Shore region. 

“GE Aerospace understands that building stronger communities starts with showing up and giving back,” says Chief Human Resources Officer and GE Aerospace Foundation Chairman Christian Meisner. “Our team in Lynn, Massachusetts, made a true impact in our community in partnership with My Brother’s Table by offering hospitality and free meals to those in need. My Brother’s Table has opened its doors for over 13,000 consecutive days in service of the community, and I’m honored to be a part of that legacy in tandem with fellow employees.”

A group of 14 volunteers spent the day sorting, inspecting, cleaning, and packaging donated canned goods, food products, and other materials at the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley in McAllen, Texas. This local food bank is the largest regional non-religious charity in South Texas, serving Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties, where it provides food assistance, nutrition education, and community services.

In and around Winfield, Kansas, 36 employees at GE Aerospace’s facility at Strother Field spent their day engaged in three separate volunteer activities. “At the Kansas Veterans’ Home we performed cleanup and landscaping, and the Women’s Network hosted two events — assembling hygiene kits for domestic violence/sexual assault resources and book reading at Whittier Elementary School,” Chad Harms, lean site leader at Strother Field, wrote on LinkedIn. The book they read to students “was about Amelia Earhart, a Kansas aviation hero,” he added. “[We’re] honored to support our military and commercial customers, and be a part of the long tradition of supporting our community at Strother.”