Black Friday. This shopping day has become as synonymous with Thanksgiving as turkey, pumpkin pie, and football. In 2011, U.S. consumers spent $52 billion while shopping during Thanksgiving weekend.
But not everyone in the United States can enjoy the trappings of Thanksgiving, much less Black Friday.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2011 48.5 million Americans were living below the poverty level — about 16 percent of the population. Many of these people rely on charitable organizations to feed their families — not just at Thanksgiving, but year-round.
Today, Cisco issued its eighth annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report. This document describes our efforts to use our technology and expertise to multiply our impact on people, communities, and the planet we live on.
The fiscal year 2012 (FY12) CSR Report underscores Cisco’s approach and commitment to act responsibly, operate sustainably, and make positive contributions to communities around the world.
Paul Dickinson, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Carbon Disclosure Project, explains how Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx help his environmental advocacy organization execute its mission.
Today, as Veterans Day is observed across the United States, the Huffington Post features a blog by Tae Yoo, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Cisco, entitled “Getting Veterans Back to Work.”
According to Tae’s blog, approximately 1 million U.S. Armed Forces personnel will transition from military to civilian life within the next four years, including about 300,000 by August 2013. Unfortunately, military servicemen and servicewomen often have difficulty transitioning to jobs in the private sector once.
One reason: military job codes don’t easily translate to civilian job descriptions, making it difficult for veterans to find meaningful civilian careers that match their skills and interests.
At Cisco, we focus our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work on specific areas, one of which is critical human needs. Or, more simply, food, water, shelter, and disaster relief.
A lot of the nonprofits we have partnered with over the years in this area, such as food banks and disaster response agencies, have been working round-the-clock dealing with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
Consider this a “shout out” to those organizations that are doing so much for those affected, whether in New York and New Jersey or the Caribbean. We will tell you how Cisco is supporting the relief effort in a future blog post.
Mariuxi Chicoaiiza and her son grabbed a hot lunch from the Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle in Moonachie, NJ
Photo: Julie Daigle/American Red Cross
We are proud of this acknowledgement because in the last couple of years, we have increased our efforts to support transitioning military personnel, veterans, and military families, particularly in the areas of employment and education.
U.S. Veterans Magazine has included Cisco on its 2012 “Best of the Best” list of 