In a tradition spanning more than a decade, Levi Strauss & Co. employees from Johannesburg to Moscow and from Beijing to Panama are giving back to local communities around the world.

Today, thousands of employees will take the day off of work to serve local non-profit organizations at 168 projects in 71 locations. In rolling up their sleeves, employees will put the company’s core values into action as they make strides in addressing sustainability, equality and the fight against HIV/AIDS.

“Giving back is a 159-year-old tradition at Levi Strauss & Co. It’s a fun way for us to serve our local communities and make a meaningful impact in the issue areas we support,” said Chip Bergh, president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. “Every community faces its own set of challenges, and for us it’s about getting out there, investing our time and lending our skills in ways that make a difference.”

Another core area of focus for the company is supporting clean water access for people around the world.  To further its commitment to water issues, the company is participating in water-related projects in cities such as Phnom Penh, Mumbai and Stockholm. This year, the Levi’s® brand expanded its collection of Water<Less™ products, made with significantly less water during the finishing process. Using this innovative thinking, the company saved more than 172 million liters of water this spring alone.

In the next phase of the company’s ongoing partnership with Goodwill Industries International, Levi’s® retail employees are volunteering at Goodwill stores and participating in a donation drive during the week of May 3-10. These efforts will help Goodwill® provide people with disabilities and disadvantages obtain the education and training they need to earn and keep good jobs. It will also help to divert the 68 billion pounds of clothing that end up in landfills each year by recovering the value in people's unwanted goods.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 850 employees will volunteer their expertise in 33 local community projects. Highlights include:

Design and Business

• Quilting recycled denim blankets with the pioneering artist Maura Ambrose, who is teaming up with the Levi’s® MADE HERE collection on an upcoming collaboration. The quilting circle will create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that will be auctioned off to benefit a non-profit partner.
• Consulting with SFMade member businesses to solve business and design challenges. Employees will share their unique skills with 6 San Francisco business owners.
• Lend a stylish eye to clients of the Delancey Street Foundation shelter and help them coordinate interview attire.

Sustainability

• Building bicycles at Levi’s Plaza for the YMCA’s YBike program. Talented bike enthusiasts will build 50 bikes for Bay Area kids. And, along with the Black Rock Arts Foundation, volunteers will sew recycled denim bike bags; one for each new bike. Last year, the Levi’s® brand introduced the Commuter collection, denim active-wear suited for this more sustainable mode of transportation.
• Installing recycled denim insulation with Habitat for Humanity. The home, complete with more sustainable insulation, will be donated to a family in need.
• Repairing trails and weeding gardens for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and Crissy field in honor of the 75^th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Transforming a water-thirsty lawn in the San Francisco Botanical Gardens into a Mediterranean Garden with reduced water needs. New drought-tolerant plants and mulching will beautify the area and allow for more sustainable maintenance.

Additional examples of other projects around the world include:

• Cleaning up one of Singapore’s most popular beaches in partnership with the Singaporean Environmental Council. The clean-up crew will also engage local children in fun, activity-filled sustainability education.
• Sprucing up a local beach in Tokyo with the Kanagawa Beach Beautification Foundation.
• Repairing the office roof of Action Against Hunger, an organization in Paris that alleviates hunger.
• Painting and building a bike storage trailer in Brussels, Belgium, with Almagic to make bicycling more accessible to people with disabilities.

During Community Day, employees will be posting photos of their projects on Instagram, Flickr and Twitter using the hashtag  #givebackinstyle. To view a sampling of these photos, go to http://bit.ly/JSYJ4T.

About Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co. is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen® brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and franchised and company-owned stores. As of November 27, 2011, the company operated 498 stores within 32 countries. Levi Strauss & Co.’s reported fiscal 2011 net revenues were $4.8 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com.

Levi Strauss & Co.

Levi Strauss & Co.

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