AT&T Employee Volunteers Celebrate Earth Day Through Service

April is National Volunteer Month. And hundreds of AT&T employees across the country are celebrating Earth Day by donating their time and talent to organizations and causes to help the environment and create a more sustainable world.

For a group of employees in Dallas, celebrating Earth Day means helping to grow food – and hope – at Bonton Farms. More than two dozen employee volunteers teamed up to clear brush and debris and help cultivate farm land to grow fresh fruit and vegetables for the South Dallas Bonton community, an area classified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a food desert. Recently, AT&T made a $100,000 contribution to Bonton Farms to help fund tables, chairs, fixtures and equipment for its Marketplace's Cafe.

According to the USDA, urban agriculture provides many benefits to a community, including closer neighborhood ties, reduced crime, education, job training opportunities and healthy food access for low-income residents.¹ Urban farms can also have environmental benefits. They create green space and help reduce carbon emissions by localizing food production and delivery.²

For AT&T employee volunteers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, celebrating Earth Day means planting trees in collaboration with Friends of Grand Rapids Parks as part of the Mayor’s Greening Initiative. Employee volunteers in Charlotte are working with Sprouts Farmers Markets to create a new learning garden at Tuckaseegee Elementary School. More employee volunteers are participating in Earth Day service activities in Oakland, El Segundo, California; Atlanta, Chicago, New Jersey and other cities across the country.

AT&T’s culture of service and volunteerism is just one way our company is helping to create a better, more sustainable world.

We’re working companywide to make our network, fleet and operations more efficient and we’ve set a goal to enable carbon savings 10x the footprint of our operations by the end of 2025. We’re also committing our resources and expertise in the Internet of Things (IoT) to help make cities cleaner, safer and stronger through smart cities. And, we’re helping our customers use IoT for Good, by connecting everything from trucks, to farm equipment, to city infrastructure and more. More information on AT&T’s sustainability programs is available at about.att.com/csr.

¹USDA. Urban Agriculture. https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/local-regional/food-sector/urban-agriculture

²The Ecology Center. https://www.theecologycenter.org/resources/10-ways-urban-farms-benefit-the-community/