Five words: "I just wanted to help." That was all Scott Pounders needed to explain why he had chosen to spend a beautiful summer day inside North Chicago’s Neal Math & Science Academy, renovating a library for hundreds of students he'd never met.
Pounders, a research and development technician in Lake County, Illinois, is one of 3,500 AbbVie employees in 45 countries who worked to make a tangible difference in their local communities during the company’s second annual Week of Possibilities.
The results are impressive: During this year’s Week of Possibilities — the signature event in the company’s year-round Possibilities 365 volunteer program — AbbVie employees provided more than 17,000 service hours to the communities where they live and work.
In North Chicago, where AbbVie is based, transforming education is a special focus. The school district there was taken over by the State of Illinois in 2012 due to years of poor academic performance. The district now faces debilitating funding problems. In early 2015, nearly 1 in 4 North Chicago residents were living in poverty andunemployment was as high as 9.7%; meanwhile the area’s property tax base is shrinking.
During this year’s Week of Possibilities, AbbVie targeted North Chicago Community High School and the Neal Math & Science Academy for library revitalizations, dramatically renovating each with new furniture, books, resources and computers.
Pounders, a research and development technician in Lake County, Illinois, is one of 3,500 AbbVie employees in 45 countries who worked to make a tangible difference in their local communities during the company’s second annual Week of Possibilities.
The results are impressive: During this year’s Week of Possibilities — the signature event in the company’s year-round Possibilities 365 volunteer program — AbbVie employees provided more than 17,000 service hours to the communities where they live and work.
"It really takes people coming together to provide the resources that these kids need, and AbbVie is stepping up to make a difference and to do that," said Angie Halamandaris, president of the Heart of America Foundation, a national nonprofit that partners with AbbVie volunteers to provide technology, books and new learning environments for under-resourced students.
In North Chicago, where AbbVie is based, transforming education is a special focus. The school district there was taken over by the State of Illinois in 2012 due to years of poor academic performance. The district now faces debilitating funding problems. In early 2015, nearly 1 in 4 North Chicago residents were living in poverty andunemployment was as high as 9.7%; meanwhile the area’s property tax base is shrinking.
During this year’s Week of Possibilities, AbbVie targeted North Chicago Community High School and the Neal Math & Science Academy for library revitalizations, dramatically renovating each with new furniture, books, resources and computers.
"I couldn't believe it was our library!" said Jennifer Tapia, a student at NCCHS, after touring the new academic heart of her school.
The libraries weren't the only spaces to get a brand-new look. At the former Green Bay Elementary School, volunteers prepped classrooms, painted hallways and built an age-appropriate playground for a new early learning center, which will provide pre-kindergarten classes for some of North Chicago's youngest (and most at-risk) kids."These kids will have a place to grow their minds inside and then stretch their bodies outside,” said Katrina Hill, Project Manager for KaBOOM!, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring all children get enough balanced and active play in their lives. “We’ll have a great safe place for all the kids in the community to play."
