Corporate Civic Engagement Goes Big: Thousands of Comcast Volunteers Unite to Revitalize Communities

On Saturday, April 27, more than 70,000 volunteers in cities from Boston to Los Angeles, will pick up their paintbrushes and hammers for a remarkable day of service, Comcast Cares Day. It is the nation's largest single-day corporate volunteer effort and a model of how a company can give back to its community.

City Year AmeriCorps members are proud to be joining with Comcast and NBCUniversal -- a City Year partner since 2001 -- to mobilize volunteers to revitalize neglected neighborhood parks, stock community food banks, install computer labs at community centers, plant trees, and beautify schools to improve the learning environment in thirteen U.S cities and "across the pond" in London.

As an organization committed to keeping students in school and on track to succeed, improving school facilities is especially important to City Year. Research indicates that a positive school climate directly impacts student achievement, and that includes making the facility itself a place students and faculty can be proud of.

I will be serving at the Curley Community Center in South Boston, where we will help beautify the grounds and the facility for the local residents. I am especially looking forward to serving because the energy and spirit of Comcast Cares Day embody the community spirit and civic commitment we have been feeling in Boston this week as we unite as a community following the tragic events at the Boston Marathon.

Comcast Cares Day is a remarkable day. Since its inception in 2001, more than 437,000 volunteers have logged more than 2.6 million hours of service. And City Year's year-round national partnership with Comcast -- which sponsors teams of City Year AmeriCorps members who help keep students in school and on-track to succeed -- is built on a shared commitment to education, improving our local communities, and developing the leaders of tomorrow.

Comcast's dedication to improving the quality of life in the local communities where its customers and employees live and work demonstrates how corporations can serve their shareholders and their communities at the same time.