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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
3.02.2006 ET
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Baxter and Its Foundation Contribute more than $35 Million in 2005 to Communities in Need
(CSRwire) DEERFIELD, Ill. - Baxter International Inc. and The Baxter
International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter, today announced
their combined 2005 charitable giving, focused on increasing access to
healthcare, helping underdeveloped nations and countries in crisis, and
addressing other critical community needs. In 2005, giving from the
company and its foundation combined totaled more than $35 million,
including more than $4.3 million to support disaster relief efforts
worldwide. The breakdown of funding in 2005 includes:
$4.8 million from the foundation, including $4.2 million in worldwide
grants awarded, and over $675,000 from the foundation's Dollars for
Doers and Matching Gifts programs;
$17.8 million from Baxter product donations to underdeveloped nations
and countries in crisis; and
$14 million from Baxter's businesses and facilities to address
critical local needs.
"Improving access to healthcare and addressing the unmet needs of
communities in crisis are both critical aspects of Baxter's commitment to
saving and sustaining lives," said Robert L. Parkinson, Jr., Baxter's
chairman and chief executive officer. "Our charitable giving efforts in
2005 are helping address the financial and human resource challenges faced
by organizations around the world working to make a meaningful difference
in the lives of individuals in need."
The company's 2005 charitable giving included more than $4.3 million in
support of relief efforts for individuals affected by worldwide disasters,
including the tsunami in December 2004, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the
earthquake in India and Pakistan. The Baxter International Foundation
committed nearly $2.3 million in grants to organizations dedicated to
disaster relief, in addition to nearly $825,000 in employee contributions
and matching gifts from Baxter and the foundation. At the same time, with
the help of international relief agencies, the company donated more than $1
million of needed Baxter products to victims of these disasters.
One major foundation grant awarded $750,000 to Foundation for the MidSouth
(FMS), a regional development foundation serving Arkansas, Louisiana and
Mississippi. The grant supported the creation of a donor-advised fund at
FMS for recovery and restoration of community-based health services
affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Baxter International Foundation Health
Recovery Fund will provide grants of up to $30,000 to support local
healthcare professionals in restoring their clinics and re-establishing
their services to families and communities in need.
Other Foundation Grants Aim to Improve Healthcare Worldwide
In 2005, The Baxter International Foundation awarded grants totaling $4.2
million to nearly 70 organizations in 19 countries. Through its grant
program, the foundation funds initiatives that improve global access to
quality and cost-effective healthcare. Specifically, the grants awarded in
2005 will help improve access to healthcare for children, the uninsured and
the elderly, prevent child abuse and neglect, promote health education,
expand specialized training opportunities for healthcare providers and aid
victims of global disasters.
Through one of the grants, the foundation partnered with Centro MillaJen
in Cidra, Puerto Rico, an organization dedicated to providing services to
children suffering from cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida and
other speech and language disorders and physical disabilities. The
$54,000 grant will expand the organization's physical and speech therapy
services to assist more than 100 local children with disabilities.
Additional organizations that received grants in 2005 from the foundation
include:
Asilo de Ansianos Luis Elizondo, to expand palliative and hospice
care services to elderly residents in Guadalupe, Mexico.
The Carter Center, founded in 1982 by former President Jimmy Carter
and his wife, Rosalynn, to support the eradication of onchocerciaisis
(River Blindness) in Colombia and Venezuela.
Ir-Razzett tai-Hbiberija (The Park of Friendship), to expand services
to the disabled, including the development of a physical therapy and gait
clinic for children and adults in Malta.
Kinder-und Jugendwerkstatt EIGEN-SINN, to support the expansion of
post-hospital counseling groups for children diagnosed with cancer and
other serious illnesses in Germany.
RAINBOWS, based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., to support the Spanish
translation and distribution of children's grief support curriculum in
three community areas where Baxter has a major presence - northern
Illinois (northern Cook, Lake and McHenry counties), Largo and Lakeland,
Fla. and Cherry Hill and New Providence, N. J.
A full listing of The Baxter International Foundation grants awarded in
2005 can be found at: www.baxter.com/grants.
Foundation Supports Philanthropic Efforts of Baxter Employees
In addition to grants, the foundation also supports Baxter employees in
their personal philanthropic efforts. Through the Dollars for Doers
program, which awards grants to organizations in the United States where
employees volunteer, the foundation contributed a total of $30,950 in
2005. Through the Matching Gifts program, the foundation also
matched nearly $647,000 in employee donations to qualified cultural,
health and educational organizations.
Product Donations Help Countries in Crisis
Baxter International Inc. donated more than $17.8 million in vital medical
products to 13 organizations in 2005, primarily through the international
disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization AmeriCares. These
products were distributed in more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa,
North, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the
Caribbean that experienced crisis or disaster in 2005. The majority of the
donated products contributed to sustainable initiatives that AmeriCares has
in place in these countries.
One donation through AmeriCares went to support the Pakistan Hemophilia
Patients Welfare Society (PHPWS), the country's first comprehensive
hemophilia treatment center. Through a donation from Baxter's BioScience
business, PHPWS was able to provide factor VIII, an injectable clotting
factor, free of charge to more than 260 patients - treatment these
patients could otherwise not afford.
About Baxter
The Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter
International Inc., helps organizations expand access to healthcare in the
United States and around the world. The foundation, established in 1981,
began to focus exclusively on increasing access to care in 2002 -
particularly for the disadvantaged and underserved in communities where
Baxter employees live and work.
Beyond its charitable giving, Baxter has been committed to advancing
environmental stewardship and social responsibility for more than two
decades. Baxter has been recognized by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors
as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, as
one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Business Ethics Magazine, and
was the 2004 Medical Products Industry Leader in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Index. Baxter is a member of the Boston College Center for
Corporate Citizenship, the Business Environmental Leadership Council of
the Pew Center on Global Climate Exchange, the Chicago Climate Exchange,
the U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders, the Ethics & Compliance Officer
Association and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. Baxter endorses the
Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) principles and
is an organizational stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
To learn more about Baxter's sustainability initiatives, please visit www.baxter.com/sustainability.
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX), through its subsidiaries, assists
health-care professionals and their patients with the treatment of complex
medical conditions, including cancer, hemophilia, immune disorders, kidney
disease and trauma. The company applies its expertise in medical devices,
pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to make a meaningful difference in
patients' lives. For more information, please visit www.baxter.com.
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