CSX Corporate Social Responsibility Highlights: Community
Our responsibility to the communities we serve is much greater than simply connecting people, products and places. CSX is committed to contributing to the social, economic and institutional development of our communities. Establishing and maintaining our license to operate throughout our service area begins with successful community engagement and collaboration. Our national and local partnerships continue to provide opportunities to remain active and give back to our communities in far more locations than we would otherwise reach on our own. Our volunteering opportunities and unique community engagement events are part of how we personally connect with these communities.
As part of CSX’s core values and business strategy, and in accord with our Standard of Care, we invest in the betterment of our employees and our communities through the Beyond Our Rails program (beyondourrails.org). The program provides an avenue for the company and our people to help on both the local and national levels through volunteer service, wellness education programs, financial contributions, and in-kind donations of free rail transportation to nonprofits. In 2013, we set and exceeded a goal to invest $15 million in our communities, donating more than $16 million in cash and in-kind support to nonprofit organizations throughout the year.
CSX engages with our communities through four focus areas: Safety, Environment, Community and Wellness. Our continued partnerships with organizations such as National Safe Place and the American Red Cross helped ensure the safety of thousands of people in crisis situations.
As part of our environmental stewardship in 2013, we surpassed our Trees for Tracks pledge by planting over 5,000 trees along our tracks, for a total of 22,553 planted in the past five years. Our work with City Year and Future Farmers of America helped enrich the lives of our employees and community members through volunteerism. To promote public wellness, CSX collaborated with schools to increase physical activity and decrease childhood obesity.
In 2013, 1,511 CSX volunteers logged more than 25,000 hours of community service as part of our Dollars for Doers program – an increase from 1,179 in 2012. More than 200 organizations benefited from this program, with more than $116,000 allocated to nonprofits for which our employees volunteer. As the program grows each year, more employees are realizing the benefits of participation, with more than 3,500 volunteers to date. CSX volunteers support both national and local initiatives across our focus areas.
