From educational to community gathering spaces and a local hospital, the first COLORFUL COMMUNITIES® projects of 2024 ushered in a new year of color and brightness in our local communities.
COLORFUL COMMUNITIES projects create a bright start to 2024
“We started the year bringing our global leaders together, marking a new project location in Finland and creating colorful transformations to serve our neighbors worldwide,” said Malesia Dunn, executive director, PPG Foundation and corporate global social responsibility. “The year ahead is sure to be bright.”
Read on to learn more about the vibrant impacts of recent Colorful Communities projects.
United States and Canada
Our global leaders brought color and brightness to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County Nan Knox Unit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of our Colorful Communities project in collaboration with Heart of America. In addition to repainting many spaces in the club, our leaders also built 55 bicycles and assembled 150 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activity kits, all of which were donated to local Boys & Girls Club members. See the colorful transformation and the members’ reactions in the video here.
In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and Day of Service, PPG’s Black Employee Network members planned a weekend-long service project in Montgomery, Alabama. In addition to visiting the Legacy Museum and a church where MLK preached, they completed a Colorful Communities project at Washington Carver High School, painting a mural and the school’s culinary arts classrooms.
Europe, Middle East, Africa, French Overseas and Suriname
More than 50 of our employee volunteers brought our purpose of protecting and beautifying the world to life through a Colorful Communities project in Lisbon, Portugal. Volunteers renovated the workshop barn used for creative activities at Casa São Francisco de Assis - Antiga Casa do Gaiato de Lisboa, an institution for children and young people in need. The interior and exterior of the facility was also revitalized, including the use of a thermal insulation and waterproofing system and our DYRUP™ products. To check out the colorful results of this project, watch this video.
Meanwhile, the first-ever Colorful Communities project in Vantaa, Finland, took place at Multipurpose Centre Lumo, a cultural and learning center owned by the City of Vantaa. It brought together 25 volunteers who transformed Lumo’s lobby area into a colorful and inspiring space. The central aspect of the project was “The Charm of the Forest,” a mural designed by local artist Andrea Puscasu, reflecting local Finnish nature, the diversity of the space and the recreational opportunities it offers. Check out the transformation in a video here.
Asia Pacific
Nearly 100 employees and the PPG Thailand leadership team united to revitalize a local hospital in Bangplee, Thailand, nearby our PPG Bangplee plant facility.
In Thane, outside of Mumbai, India, a group of 140 volunteers completed a Colorful Communities project at the Bharat Ratna Indira Gandhi School. In collaboration with our nonprofit organization partner, Centum Foundation, the project connected employees from various parts of PPG including the PPG Asian Paints head office in Kurla, India, the Pawane Technology Center, the Automotive Refinish Sales & Training team based at Mumbai, and warehouse employees based at Bhiwandi, India. The volunteers revitalized classrooms and adjoining areas such as corridors and staircases. To engage the school’s students, PPG volunteers also organized a drawing contest.
To learn more about how PPG’s Colorful Communities program creates color and brightness around the world, click here.