When Fran Smith took on the role of liaison for both the United Way of Northern New Jersey, and the Food Bank Network of Somerset County in 2011, she committed to supporting programs to help Roche Branchburg employees give back to their community. Fran plans, promotes and executes the Holiday Gift Tag/General gift collection program with the United Way, and the Food Drive program with the Food Bank Network.
Helping the community requires effort and collaboration! From the promotional materials and outreach – flyers, posters and in-person reminders in the cafeteria, and that requires internal and external collaboration with multiple teams. For the annual Food Drives, the cafeteria Manager sets up cash donation cans and non-perishable food donation boxes in the cafeteria. There are also donation boxes throughout the campus at the main building entrances. Fran works with the Shipping Department personnel to schedule daily collections of the non-perishables from the donation boxes and deliver to a secure storage location.
Where it takes a lot of work to coordinate the Food Drives, the result is worth the effort. Each year, the Food Bank Network of Somerset County ensures that thousands of local families receive proper nutrition. Fran, her team and the employee donations they collect play an important role in making that happen!
32,000 Somerset County households -- 28 percent -- cannot afford life’s basic necessities of housing, food, health care, child care and transportation. The holidays and winter months bring additional financial stress, which United Way is seeking to alleviate with community support.
Our impact
Internally, Roche has programs like employee socials, community gardens, and employee recreation association activities strengthen our Roche community and interactions with each other.
Externally, our Roche Gives Back program sponsors food drives, school supply drives, and the Annual Roche Children’s Walk, giving employees opportunities to access activities meaningful to them in the local communities in which we work and live.
