GE Appliances Blue Wave Circles the Globe

Company celebrates yearlong volunteer commitment with projects in communities across the U.S. and three countries.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today GE Appliances, a Haier company, celebrates a yearlong volunteer commitment with employees from across the business collecting and donating nearly two tons of food for local food banks and completing 22 transformational volunteer projects across the country where the business has manufacturing, distribution, and sales operations. The annual event continues to increase the business’ community engagement footprint and corporate citizenship strategy. This year, activities will take place in all 50 states, with additional projects in India, South Korea, and China. Each project goal is to make transformational impact by establishing partnerships and creating possibilities for public school systems and local nonprofit organizations by providing skills-based volunteerism and financial investment to help solve global community issues.

Called “The Blue Wave”, GE Appliances launched the initiative in 2021 to support the Louisville community, home of its corporate headquarters and largest manufacturing facilities, during a time when the city was tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing racial equity following the murders of George Floyd in Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Motivated by the impact made in Louisville, other areas of the business across the U.S. joined in launching on-going volunteer partnerships and projects with nonprofit organizations in their communities. Employees embraced the ability to come together for others in the community and it brought colleagues back together after enduring the social and health crisis of the previous years.

“We invent, design and build the world’s best appliances, and we believe in building stronger communities,” said Kevin Nolan, president & CEO of GE Appliances. “It’s who we are as a company and it’s what makes our company such a special place. We come together to make good things for life, to create possibilities and to always find a better way. These are the commitments we make within the walls of GE Appliances and to the communities we serve.”

Now, employees from across the business have committed to completing 20,000 hours of volunteering each calendar year in the neighborhoods where they live and work, focusing on activities that help strengthen communities and advance equity and inclusion.

Volunteer projects across the United States support families affected by food insecurity, provide housing and afterschool programs in underinvested communities, and partner with nonprofit organizations committed to protecting the environment. The Blue Wave is now global with GE Appliances employees in India, Korea and China supporting education initiatives for orphaned and unsheltered youth, aging adults, and expanding access to medical services through engineering design and technology.

More than 700 GE Appliances employees will come together throughout the month of October for The Blue Wave. Projects include:

Friday, October 13^th Louisville, KY

• Maupin Elementary – Donating washers and dryers to JCPS Schools.
  
  1312 Catalpa St., Louisville, KY 40211

• South Louisville Community Ministries- Renovations, outdoor pantry, gardening center.
  
  415 W Ashland Ave., Louisville, KY 40214

• Dare to Care Community Kitchen- Renovate storage facility into community space, food distribution center, additional freezer space and meal preparation.
  
  1200 S 28th St., Louisville, KY 40211

• Dare to Care Warehouse – Landscaping, improving parking lot, painting and a mural.
  
  5802 Fern Valley Rd., Louisville, KY 40228

• FirstBuild – Hackathon for assisting non-profits with donor recognition and strategic planning.
  
  333 E Brandeis Ave., Louisville, KY 40208

• Wellspring Residence – Landscaping
  
  846 S 6^th St., Louisville, KY 40205

• Wellspring Community Picnic
  
  1773 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY 40205

• Dreams with Wings – Landscaping and gardening center for clients.
  
  2106 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY 40205

• Lighthouse Academy – Community space renovations, landscaping and repaint the GE Appliances Gym at Lighthouse.
  
  5321 Shepherdsville Rd., Louisville, KY 40228

Later in October Louisville, KY

• American Red Cross – Participate in Sound the Alarm program to install 2,500 smoke detectors in homes in the Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood. (October 17^th)

• Maryhurst Fall Festival- Decorating and programming for residential youth.
  
  1015 Dorsey Lane, Louisville, KY 40223 (October 19^th)

• JA Inspire with Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana- Career exploration expo for eight and ninth-grade students.
  
  Kentucky Expo Center
  
  937 Phillips Lane, 40209 (October 25^th)

Additionally, earlier this month, GE Appliances employees helped improve the kitchens and storage at two Louisville food pantry facilities.

Friday, October 13^th Lafayette, Georgia

• City of Lafayette Pollinator Garden- Clearing land and building a pollinator park inclusive of a bird sanctuary, flowering bushes, beehives, and fencing.
• Chatooga County Boys & Girls Club kitchen renovation (October 20^th)

Friday, October 13^th

Feeding America Food Banks- Sorting and packing emergency food packages.

• Florida
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Nebraska

Friday, October 13^th Tampa, Florida

• The Big Clean Up- Cleaning litter from Clearwater Beach to help reduce litter in U.S. waterways.

Friday, October 13^th Plano, Texas

• North Texas Food Bank- Sort, bag, and box food for emergency distribution.

Friday, October 13^th Bowenpally, Secunderabad, Telangana, India

• New Bowenpally Orphanage- Educational programming and cricket with youth in residence.
• Bengaluru, India- STEM field trip to the Science Museum and Planetarium for students in adopted and mentored schools.
• Landscaping and renovation at local orphanage.

Elkhart, Indiana (on-going)

• Water sanitation trailer fabrication in partnership with WaterStep- Develop a comprehensive water sanitation mobile unit to deploy during natural disasters that will provide clean, sanitized water for impacted families and first responders.

South Korea and China (On-going)

• Employees will volunteer at local shelters and community centers across the region.

About GE Appliances

At GE Appliances, a Haier company, we come together to make “good things, for life.” We’re creators, thinkers and makers who believe that anything is possible and that there’s always a better way. We’re a company powered by our people, made stronger through our diversity — allowing us to grow closer than ever before to our owners, anticipate their needs and enhance their lives. We’ve been certified the last three years as a Great Place to Work™, named one of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women by Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media), earned the Achievers 50 Most Engaged Workplaces® award, received a perfect score for the fifth year in a row on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, and named one of the Top 100 Internship Programs by WayUp.

Since 1907, we’ve built innovative, quality products that are trusted in half of all U.S. homes. We sell appliances under the Monogram®, Café™, GE Profile™, GE®, Haier and Hotpoint brands. Our products include refrigerators, freezers, cooking products, dishwashers, washers, dryers, wine & beverage centers, air conditioners, small appliances, water filtration systems and water heaters.

To learn more about our company, brands, Corporate Citizenship efforts, economic impact, and working for GE Appliances, visit geappliancesco.com.

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Contacts

Katina Whitlock

Senior Manager, Community Engagement

Katina.Whitlock@geappliances.com