From offering free phone calls home to troops in Iraq to delivering turkey dinners to homeless people, companies on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity^® list are using Thanksgiving and the holiday season as a time to give back to others.

As the upcoming December issue of DiversityInc magazine on corporate philanthropy illustrates, corporate philanthropy, especially to diverse groups, develops strong community relationships that improve communications and engagement with employees and customers.

Verizon Communications, No. 1 on The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity, is offering U.S. troops in Iraq free calling during the holiday season, Nov. 22 through Nov. 28 and Dec. 22 through Jan. 2. Verizon deployed to Iraq a state-of-the-art mobile communications facility outfitted with phones to allow military personnel to make calls home. This is the fourth consecutive year the company has provided free calls for military personnel in Iraq.

Troops can make unlimited calls and can speak as long as they like, 24 hours a day. Verizon anticipates more than 1 million call minutes this Thanksgiving.

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Sodexho, No. 14 on the Top 50, donated 1,000 turkeys through its partnerships with two nonprofit organizations. Sodexho, continuing its seven-year relationship with Hosea Feed the Hungry Initiative in Atlanta, Ga., which feeds homeless people on Thanksgiving and Christmas, donated 500 turkeys and aprons to the organization. Employees also are volunteering to work Thanksgiving eve to prepare the food. Sodexho also donated 500 turkeys to Food 4 Families, a Thanksgiving season food drive that, with the help of the Salvation Army, distributes food to homeless and poor families throughout the Washington, D.C., area.

"Helping those in our communities is essential to creating a culture of diversity and inclusion in our company," said Jennifer Williamson, senior director of strategic initiatives and communications.

HSBC North America, No. 13 on the 2006 Top 50, is partnering with Jersey City, N.J.-based Mount Camel Guild to ensure 70 area families don't go hungry on Thanksgiving Day. The bank's employees collected financial contributions and nonperishable food items together in food baskets. The baskets come complete with a turkey and all the trimmings. It cost $2,600 to feed 70 families

Nationally, the percentage of individuals who donate to charity is up 2.7 percent this year, according to Giving USA Foundation. And the companies that comprise The 2006 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list are following suit, with more than 33 percent of their philanthropic endeavors going to ethnic and/or GLBT groups.

Philanthropy for Top 50 companies is seen as a business imperative that not only provides for people in need but develops relationships with community leaders and consumers. For example, the December issue of DiversityInc details Deloitte & Touche's philanthropic endeavors. Deloitte's New York City public-school program serves students that are 95 percent people of color, with more than 60 volunteers working on business-simulation programs. More than $1 million in staff time has been spent on mentoring programs at New York City high schools, and Deloitte's tax-assistance initiative has served more than 1,000 underserved families, resulting in more than $1.6 million returned to these communities.

Deloitte benefits from those efforts by recruiting some of its current employees from these programs. "Our firm is driven by diverse and talented people," says Evan Hochberg, national director of community involvement at Deloitte, one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies in 2006. "We need this steady pipeline of talent to recruit."

And the firm's volunteer efforts boost interaction between employees. "[Resource-group members] will often go out to do community service as a way to logically connect with each other," says Hochberg.

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