Community: Case Studies

TE employees build bicycles for underprivileged children in Lisbon, Portugal.

TE worked with Santa Casa, a social services agency that provides for the underprivileged throughout Portugal, to organize the "build a bike" event. The event, conducted as a team building project during a meeting of senior TE leaders, was designed to give back to the local community. Attendees were split into small teams to build a bicycle. Each team presented a brand new bicycle they built to a local underprivileged child.

It was an emotional and inspiring experience for the kids and for the TE leaders. As one meeting participant said, "This experience demonstrates that TE has a heart and gives back to the community."

The "build a bike" event was designed to reinforce TE's desire as a company to Be Extraordinary in many ways.

"We are trying to build a great company at TE and there are a lot of ways you can be great – it doesn't always have to be about business performance," said CEO Tom Lynch. "Today we had fun building the bikes, but we also made a difference for a group of children. It made everyone feel good inside."

"I've participated in other team-building events that were fun, but this is the first one where we really made an immediate difference in the community," said Kevin Harris, a Vice President of TE’s Asia-Pacific Operations. "It just shows you that you don't have to spend a lot of money to make a difference – the bikes were not terribly expensive but we really put a smile on the faces of those children. It was heartwarming and I was so happy to be a part of it."

"We had a lot of fun building the bikes and we helped people at the same time," said Morten Nissov, a TE Global Product Director in the U.S. "It made me proud to work for TE."

As part of the Build a bike program, TE will arrange for an additional 45 new bikes to be given to underprivileged children who are associated with the Bikes for Tykes organization in Florida in the U.S.

While TE and its employees strive to engage with local communities, sometimes those communities are not geographical entities at all, but communities of people who are grappling with a common challenge: fighting heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

In 2010, a team of 300 TE employees participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk and raised more than $35,000 for the organization, placing the TE contingent in the top 10 percent of the 200 companies that participated.

In 2011, more than 2,500 TE Connectivity employees from 45 U.S. facilities walked 430 million steps, or about 215,000 miles, since joining in the TE Walking Challenge.

The Walking Challenge is part of TE Connectivity’s national partnership with the American Heart Association (AHA), with the goal of promoting heart health and exercise. Employees are encouraged to exercise more, join in local AHA walks, and help raise funds. Our goal is to raise $200,000 we’re almost half way there. To track our progress or to get involved visit the AHA website here:  http://www.heartwalk.org/teconnectivity.

At TE, we believe strong communities bring about expanded benefits for every person and business located within them. This is why we support our communities through our global giving program and employee volunteerism. In 2011, more than $4 million was donated by TE, TE employees and the TE Foundation to over 1,400 organizations worldwide.

Here are some highlights from 2011:

India

Employees in Pune, India distributed 22 pounds of fertile seed to employees and locals during the monsoon season to raise awareness about the importance of tree planting.

TE donated $8,800 to help finish construction of a community hall in Shirwal Village. The hall will provide much-needed space for town meetings, education programs and other community programs.

Malaysia

TE employees participated in a half-day walk to raise awareness and money for the National Autism Society of Malaysia.

China

The TE facility in Shunde, China has been honored for the last 10 years by the local government for the employee coordinated blood drives.

Through TE China’s backpacks donation project, TE donated over 900 backpacks containing school supplies to elementary school children in need in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Taiwan

Eighty-eight employees raised more than NT$246,000 to provide a new reading corner, science lab, and soccer team to a school severely impacted by a typhoon.

Czech Republic

TE Kuřim hosted over 5,500 visitors at TE Day and raised $1,500 for the Children’s Care Home in Tišnov and to the Kuřim Volunteer Firefighters Corps.

Belgium

TE supported the Umicore Solar Team, a group of 15 students from the Groep T engineering school in Leuven, Belgium, to compete in the World Solar Challenge in Australia.

Japan

Employees in Japan took five days of paid leave to assist with clean up and rebuilding of areas devastated by the 2011 tsunami, including many homes and a local science museum.

U.S.

More than 1,200 TE employees walked at 13 American Heart Association (AHA) walks across the nation and raised over 140,000 for the AHA in the fight against heart disease.

The TE Foundation provides charitable grants to U.S. nonprofit organizations. In 2011, the Foundation contributed $529,046 to over 30 organizations, including:

• The Junior Engineering Technical Society, which provides high school students an opportunity to discover real-world applications of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
• The MATHCOUNTS Foundation, which combines the efforts of volunteers, educators, industry partners, government and the technology community to promote mathematics excellence among middle school students.
• JobTrain, an organization that looks to improve the lives of people in their community through assessment, attitude and job skills training, and high-potential career placement.

Thank you!

Thank you to our employees, customers and partners for helping us to make a difference in our communities around the world.

TE seeks to lend a hand when natural disasters strike in the communities we serve. In the immediate aftermath of the 2010 earthquake that took place in China’s Qinghai Province, we donated $1 million RMB (US$150,000), on behalf of all TE employees, to the Red Cross Society of China to assist with overall rescue and recovery efforts. Our Human Resources team in China also coordinated with TE facilities to establish on-site cash collection points so employees could donate through local charities.

Efforts to Support Local Communities

Other efforts to support local communities in the wake of tragedy have included:

• Following Hurricane Jimena in Mexico in 2009, we donated $100,000 in relief to assist our workers in need. We also encouraged employees to donate to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, and matched all donations of $25 or more.
• In the wake of the Haiti earthquake of 2009, TE made a $100,000 corporate donation to the American Red Cross, and employees donated an additional $18,471 through payroll deductions. We matched employee donations dollar-for-dollar through the TE Matching Gift Program.
• After the 2008 earthquake in Chengdu, China, TE made a corporate donation of $150,000 to the Red Cross Society of China, and pledged an additional $80,000 through a benefit concert to fund construction of a new school. Our Wireless Systems subsidiary donated emergency wireless communications equipment and field technical services valued at approximately $1 million for use by disaster teams, and our Network Solutions subsidiary committed $90,000 worth of products and services to help rebuild critical telecommunications and energy networks. TE employees from around the world also donated more than $210,000 to the Red Cross Society of China and Charity Association, and they gave an additional $14,000 to the TE China Earthquake Fund which was distributed directly to the 515 employees whose families were affected by the quake.

For several years, TE facilities in Mexico have been supporting the community by helping families in need and making donations to local non-profit organizations.

During the December holidays every year, employees from the TE Juarez site “adopt” children by electing to have part of their pay given to the Los Ojos de Dios (The Eyes of God) Orphanage.

In Hermosillo, for more than 15 years, TE has organized Christmas celebrations for families and distributed toys donated by TE and its employees among their children. In December 2009, the team visited areas where the less fortunate families live and donated 30 food baskets.