$1M pledge made to food banks, along with donation of PPE equipment
Honda of North America officials announced this week a new effort to harness the helpful spirit of community in responding to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The effort is led by an initial $1 million pledge to food banks and meal programs across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is intended to provide the most vulnerable with access to food through donations to community organizations that address food insecurity.
The company also is implementing a Special Matching Gift Program that enables its associates to make monetary donations to food programs in their local communities, matching up to $1,000 for each individual gift.
In addition to the pledge to address food insecurity, Honda’s undertaking to provide relief to communities, customers and dealers during this uncertain time includes activities supporting community and government efforts aimed at combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
• Inventorying stocks of Personal Protective Equipment at its North American facilities and donating much of this equipment, including N95 face masks, to support frontline healthcare providers.
• Deploying 3-D printers to manufacture visors for protective face shields that will be used by medical providers. Honda also continues to investigate the ability to meet critical manufacturing needs related to medical equipment, including partnering with other companies.
“We are focusing our societal response on three vital and immediate human needs,” Rick Schostek, Honda North America Inc executive vice president, said in a release. “We are addressing food insecurity at a time when many families are struggling, investigating the potential to use our manufacturing know-how to produce medical equipment to help those battling COVID-19, and deploying our associate ‘virtual volunteers,’ to help people in need.”
Building on a longstanding tradition of community volunteerism, Honda associates also will be empowered to play a key part in the “virtual volunteer” campaign to help those most in need.
Engaging and empowering Honda associates throughout North America at home, they will be able to help non-profits and people in need in their local communities while respecting the requirements of social distancing. This will include reaching out to many of its nonprofit partners to assess their needs and determine opportunities to support them with virtual tasks at a time when nonprofit resources are stretched.
Also to relieve some of the financial strain associated with the pandemic, the company is offering payment extensions and deferrals for existing Honda and Acura finance customers. For new vehicle sales financed by Honda and Acura Financial Services, a 90-day deferred payment is offered to qualified customers.
Additionally, Honda is launching a new marketing campaign with a focus on the power of community to help people get through these challenging times, and to emerge even stronger.
In the face of this rapidly changing situation, Honda continues “to explore other ways to serve local communities across North America in the areas where our associates live and work,” officials said.