This year, more than 100,000 volunteers will celebrate service during Comcast Cares Day by participating in volunteer projects all over the world. Making a positive impact in the communities where Comcast NBCUniversal employees live and work is a value the company embraces all year long. Businesses can ensure that the impact of service days like these lasts well beyond one day by linking their service projects to city priorities and ongoing initiatives.   

To that end, Comcast NBCUniversal and Cities of Service, a national nonprofit that helps mayors engage citizens to solve problems, are pleased to pilot a program in Detroit this year that builds on the success of Comcast Cares Day to create lasting, necessary change and long-term relationships. Working with city leadership, we have aligned Comcast NBCUniversal volunteer projects in Detroit with work already underway by city agencies and community groups. We believe that with this partnership, Comcast NBCUniversal volunteers will be an integral part of making Detroit a safer, stronger city.

Detroit has several coordinated initiatives designed to increase safety and bring life back to the city. One such initiative is Detroit Police Department’s Project Greenlight, which provides businesses that are open late at night with security cameras monitored by the police department. (The businesses display a green light to indicate they are participating.) More than 230 businesses are already involved, with more on a waiting list. Comcast NBCUniversal is a partner in this program, providing the necessary cloud storage at a discounted rate.

In addition, Detroit chief service officer Victoria Kovari has worked with community partners to develop and implement a service plan to beautify neighborhoods and tackle other challenges. This includes Motor City Makeover, a citywide volunteer cleanup, which is focused on alleyway improvement this year.

Comcast NBCUniversal and Cities of Service worked with Kovari, the Detroit Police Department, Mayor Michael Duggan, and other city leaders to select Comcast Cares Day projects that bolster these existing programs. We selected volunteer projects that will give Comcast NBCUniversal employees an opportunity to give back to their city and will move the city’s existing initiatives forward.

On April 21, volunteers in Detroit will make repairs and remove yard waste and brush along a residential alley. Volunteers will also pick up litter and participate in other beautification efforts along a nearby commercial corridor, which includes four Project Greenlight businesses. Eliminating blight in the area will further encourage business activity in the neighborhood and potentially motivate other businesses to participate in Project Greenlight.

After Comcast Cares Day, neighborhood revitalization projects will continue in additional locations. Comcast NBCUniversal employees will be invited to join neighborhood groups in all seven districts that will receive mini-grants from the city to support their community-driven projects.

Building relationships is an integral part of our approach with this partnership. The program will create new avenues of communication between Comcast NBCUniversal employees, their neighbors, and the city, and between Comcast NBCUniversal and the city leadership, a foundation for collaboration and problem solving that can be built upon for years to come. And this model of long-term engagement can be easily replicated by Comcast NBCUniversal and other businesses in cities around the world.