Community Relations

For more than 75 years, Grainger has contributed to the communities in which we do business. In addition to serving customers, the company is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where it is located, including nearly 600 branches and 18 distribution centers throughout the U.S.

Charitable Contributions Focus Areas

Disaster Relief

• “Ready When The Time Comes”
  Grainger is the lead sponsor of the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago’s "Ready When the Time Comes" program which trains employees as volunteers to help support local disaster relief efforts. Grainger is also the premier sponsor of the American Red Cross Mile High Chapter's "Ready When the Time Comes" program in Denver. Since February 2001, Grainger has trained nearly 130 volunteers in Chicago. Since January 2005, Grainger has trained 29 employees as volunteers in Denver. As part of this program, Grainger employees have been called upon to:
  
  • Staff phone centers in Chicago and Denver to answer questions from those seeking support and information following Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.
  • Participate in a Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications disaster preparedness drill in August 2005.
  • Assist families in Waukegan, Illinois, who lost their homes to fire in April 2004.
    
• American Red Cross Volunteer Administration Institute
  Grainger sponsored the 2005 national conference in Jacksonville, Florida and contributed to a scholarship fund to enable more than 75 Red Cross chapter volunteer administrators to attend the conference.
  
• Hurricane Katrina
  Grainger raised its three-to-one match of employee contributions to four-to-one, contributing more than $1.2 million to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Grainger contributed more than $300,000 in four-to-one matching funds following the December 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia.
  
• Grainger Rebuilding America® program
  On May 31, 2003, Grainger launched this program, which contributes to communities affected by disaster. The contribution is disbursed to small, independent businesses in the community as seed money to begin rebuilding. The first community Grainger assisted was Jackson, Tennessee, following a severe tornado that destroyed the downtown area. Grainger also assisted the Utica, Illinois downtown district following a severe tornado strike.

• Grainger supports i.c.stars, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization offering an intense technology educational program and ongoing support for inner-city youth to develop careers in corporate America.
  
• Grainger supports the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE). HACE helps Latinos through every stage of their career paths--from high school through college and on to their professional years. Their mission is to strengthen the foundation for the professional and economic advancement of the Hispanic community.

Product Donations

Grainger contributes disaster relief products to the American Red Cross throughout the country.

• Grainger contributed $200,000 in products following Hurricane Katrina in addition to its $1.2 million matching gift contribution.
• The company contributed $1 million in emergency supplies and $50,000 cash following Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan.
• Grainger contributed more than $80,000 in clean-up related product following Hurricane Isabel.

Grainger also donates products to the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, a collector and distributor of new, donated overstock inventory to nonprofit organizations and schools; and Educational Assistance Ltd., which offers excess inventory to colleges and universities in exchange for scholarships for thousands of needy students nationwide.

Grainger's Matching Charitable Gifts Program

Grainger’s Matching Charitable Gifts Program encourages employees’ voluntary support of educational, cultural, and community health and human services organizations. Each calendar year, Grainger will match each employee’s contributions three-for-one up to a total of $7,500. Grainger is among only a few companies in the nation that match at this significant level.

2004 Charitable Contributions

The total value of Grainger’s charitable contributions in 2004 including product and cash was $12 million.

Volunteers in Action

Grainger employees volunteered during the 2004 tax season to provide counseling and preparation to low-income families across the Chicago area.