The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), announced it is awarding grants totaling more than $2.3 million to non-profit organizations to increase global volunteerism. Grants will support initiatives to bolster global communities, including disaster preparedness and recovery, youth literacy and skills development and veterans training.

The UPS Foundation also announced UPS employees completed a record 2.7 million hours of volunteer service in 2016 providing more than $62 million in economic impact to nonprofits and NGOs around the world. UPS is on track to meet its goal to contribute 20 million global volunteer hours by the end of 2020.

“UPS believes in the power of volunteerism, and we have a long history of mobilizing our 444,000 employees around the world to contribute their time, energy and expertise to support the global communities in which we operate,” said Eduardo Martinez, president of The UPS Foundation and chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPS. “UPS is a founding member of IMPACT 2030, a business-led global collaboration with the United Nations, the public and private sectors, and, civil society organizations. Impact 2030’s mission is to encourage, focus, and measure private sector volunteering around the world to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are also working in partnership with leading organizations on multiple fronts to support and energize this global effort to change the world by leveraging the volunteer movement.”

Among the grant recipients is the Points of Light Foundation, a long-time The UPS Foundation community partner. The Points of Light Foundation grant will include the mobilization of more than 250,000 volunteers and more than 6,500 veterans to support initiatives around disaster preparedness, response and recovery training as well as a Military Families and Veterans training program. In addition, UPS’s Nick Costides, global vice president of information technology, has joined the Points of Light Foundation Board of Directors.

The UPS Foundation also will award grants to the following organizations, among many others:

• BoardSource, to back programs that strengthen non-profit board leadership capacity and technology investment
• Innovations for Learning, to improve early grade literacy proficiency through tutor training and support as part of its TutorMate project
• The International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE), for continued support of the IAVE Global Network and the GCVC Disaster Research Working Group
• Junior Achievement Worldwide, in support of its “Be Entrepreneurial” youth development program that teaches business skills, financial literacy and work readiness to high school students in South Africa and Mexico
• The National Youth Leadership Council, to encourage youth development programs for K-12 students in Georgia, Texas and Washington D.C.
• The Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, for its non-profit Legal Check-Up Program which pairs non-profits with trained attorneys who conduct in-kind legal audits
• Toolbank USA, to advance the Toolbank Disaster Services response network which provides volunteers with tools and resources for effective disaster recovery
• The Taproot Foundation (Tapfound Inc.), to aid its skills-based volunteerism efforts which provide non-profit organizations in five major U.S. cities with marketing, design, human resources, technology and strategic planning expertise

These grants are part of The UPS Foundation’s commitment to global volunteerism. For more information about UPS’s philanthropic and volunteerism efforts, please visit www.UPS.com/Foundation.

About The UPS Foundation

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight; the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Since its founding in 1907, UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. Founded in 1951, The UPS Foundation leads its global citizenship programs and is responsible for facilitating community involvement to local, national, and global communities. In 2016, UPS and its employees, active and retired, invested more than $116 million in charitable giving around the world. The UPS Foundation can be found on the web at UPS.com/Foundation. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS or follow @UPS_News on Twitter.