January 7, 2022
By putting our collective human power into practice, we believe people can impact the world one community at a time. In November, UL launched the Impact 100 global campaign, which runs for 100 days. During this campaign, UL’s employees are encouraged to create and participate in organized acts of kindness through volunteerism and support for charitable organizations.
In recognition of Impact 100, employees hosted a meal packing event, packing 100,000 meals at UL’s corporate headquarters in Northbrook, Illinois.
Meal-packing event
The event occurred on Dec. 14 and 15 on UL’s Northbrook campus. Over two days, more than 150 employee volunteers came together to package fortified macaroni and cheese meals. The Northern Illinois Food Bank received the meals and distributed them locally to people experiencing food insecurity. UL also donated 1,300 pounds of pasta leftover from the event.
This is the ninth year UL has hosted a meal-packing event. With the addition of the 100,000 meals filled for the Impact 100 campaign, UL’s employees have now packed a total of 500,000 meals.
UL’s event partners
UL partnered with The Outreach Program, a non-profit organization based in Union, Iowa, that organizes food packing events throughout the country. The Outreach Program provided the food and packing supplies. They set up assembly lines, where UL volunteers assembled and boxed the meals. Each of the 100,000 meals packed is simple to prepare and includes six nutritious servings. The Outreach Program gives the boxes of meals to local food pantries and children’s centers worldwide to help feed hungry kids.
The Outreach Program delivered the meals from UL’s event to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Serving 13 counties in northern Illinois, the food bank distributed the meals to local, food-insecure individuals and families. We’re proud that our efforts went directly to people in communities around the Northbrook campus.
UL’s commitment to promoting healthy lives
UL’s mission of working for a safer world includes being a good corporate citizen and promoting social responsibility. UL is a signatory to the UN Global Compact, which means we support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We strive to make an impact through our services, words and actions. The meal-packing event contributes to the Compact’s goals of promoting healthy lives and well-being by providing nutritionally complete meals to people around the world who are hungry and food insecure.
Impact 100 is helping UL employees make an impact as well. The company provides volunteer time off for employees and helps organize group volunteer events. UL actively encourages employees to donate their time and skills in tangible, personal ways to organizations in the communities where they live and work — especially for causes that are important to them.
Impact 100 began on Nov. 1, and employees can participate throughout the 100-day campaign. While we encourage UL employees to get involved in organized acts of kindness, we hope that you will be inspired to get involved in your communities, too.