Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is proud to call Camden, NJ our hometown. Our work in the community has allowed us to support continued growth in the city through employee engagement, skills-based volunteering, and Subaru of America Foundation, Inc., (the Foundation) grants.
$1,417,200
Donated to Camden charitable organizations
49+
Camden organizations supported
$4,905
Donated in matching gifts by Subaru colleagues
4,428
Hours volunteered by Subaru employees in Camden
At Subaru, we speak a lot about our Subaru family. That is genuine and heartfelt. And delivering on the Subaru Love Promise in the community we call home is one of the most rewarding impacts our Subaru family has been privileged to experience. We are deeply grateful for the relationships we have developed with our Camden neighbors, seeing the bonds of those relationships mature into friendships, and working side by side with those friends to give back to, and be there for, our hometown community — like family does.
This year saw many remarkable achievements for our Love Promise, exemplified through the Subaru Share the Love Event. We supported local Camden organizations through these actions.
Girls Inc.
Provided 590 water testing kits to help ensure safe drinking water in our community
Food Bank of South Jersey
Donated 850 meal kits to those in need
Hopeworks
Prepared 490 career readiness backpacks for Camden students
Camden County Habitat for Humanity
Built 32 pieces of furniture for low-income families
Subaru is committed to helping those in need in our community. In 2023, Subaru collaborated with Joseph’s House as part of our 55th Anniversary Volunteering Challenge to help clean and organize furniture. During the challenge, we brought approximately 500 pairs of socks to donate to Joseph’s House.
Subaru takes its commitment to environmental protection seriously. In 2023, Subaru helped Discovery Education launch the Sustainability Education Coalition, a first-of-its-kind initiative focused on empowering more than 10 million students by 2030 to serve as ambassadors for sustainability. The launch of the coalition builds on our multi-year partnership with Discovery Education, as 7,000 students to date in Camden have received access to high-quality digital content through this partnership. This coalition highlights the increased need to connect more students to sustainability education, especially in communities like Camden, where some of the urban issues they face limit opportunities for sustainability education.
Additionally, Subaru hosted an Earth Day event at our headquarters to promote environmentally friendly practices in our hometown. Activities included e-waste recycling, document shredding, a sustainable Subaru gear swap, and a honeybee display.
Subaru supports many organizations committed to helping the Camden community remain healthy. Through our donations and volunteerism, we help ensure that everyone has a chance to lead a healthy life. In 2023, Subaru donated 1,500 thank you kits to hospital workers at Cooper Hospital. These kits were distributed to non-medical staff in custodial, food service, and other departments and included a Starbucks gift card, chocolate, and a handwritten note from Subaru employees. Additionally, Subaru donated more than $30,000 in durable medical equipment and travel assistance funds to Cooper University Health Care.
We are dedicated to supporting educational opportunities for students throughout our communities. We collaborate with the Camden City School District and other local education-focused entities to prepare students for a wide range of careers. In 2023, Subaru adopted all classrooms at Camden High School, providing more than 60 teachers with $500 each to purchase school supplies and an adoption kit including some of the most used supplies. At Eastside High School, we provided state-of-the-art equipment for a graphic arts lab, allowing students to learn graphic arts skills and even sell the items they make. In late August 2023, we had our largest offsite volunteer event to celebrate Subaru Loves Learning, sending:
175 volunteers
to 15 schools in the Camden City School district to help more than
80 teachers
prepare their classrooms for the start of the school year
Subaru loves animals at home and in the wild. Here in Camden, we know that pets are loved and cherished members of many families. To support our furry friends, Subaru partnered with Animal Welfare Association to bring their Vets and Wheels program to Pyne Poynt Park, helping provide free inoculations and veterinary care to 1,067 pets. Additionally, we held our third annual Camden Make a Dog’s Day, where we helped more than 100 pets and gave away over 1,200 pounds of free food in conjunction with our nonprofit partner Sharing Excess.
We actively engage in collaborative initiatives, making contributions to Camden through our impactful community partnerships. Some of the 2023 events included:
Subaru celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2023 with a volunteering challenge. Subaru employees were challenged to collectively volunteer 550 hours from February 1 through February 14. Five employees who participated were randomly selected to send a $1,000 donation from Subaru to the charity of their choice. In total, 348 employees participated, logging 700+ hours, and volunteering in 34 different events in Camden and across the country.
Subaru partnered with the Camden City School District to host a screening of “The Approach 2” at Catto Family School. “The Approach 2” is an action-driven ski and snowboard film series elevating people of color, women, and adaptive athletes. The film aims to support and encourage diversity in snow sports and highlights the importance of providing opportunities to individuals who are traditionally underrepresented in this space. After the screening, students had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session with the athletes and filmmakers.
Subaru adopted families from the Volunteers of America Delaware Valley’s Adopt a Family program. This initiative focuses on making the holiday season a little brighter for Camden families by providing them with gifts. We take great pride in being the largest group to adopt families in 2023.
Subaru engaged in Mayor Carstarphen’s “Camden Strong” initiative through the Camden Strong Clean Ups. This initiative brings together corporate volunteers and community members and aimed to address issues such as blight and illegal dumping. With almost 70 Subaru volunteers, these clean-up efforts were carried out at various locations across Camden.
Subaru collaborated with Nike and former Camden High School basketball star and current University of Kentucky student-athlete DJ Wagner for the second annual backpack giveaway event. Nike provided backpacks that Subaru stuffed with essential school supplies for more than 250 students. Additionally, 30 Black & Latino Employee Network for Diversity at Subaru volunteers participated in the event.
The Foundation impacts the Camden community through employment and environmental opportunities. In 2023, through our partnerships with organizations in the area, the Foundation's efforts led to:
$850,000
in total grants gifted to Camden
248 jobs
created for Camden residents
Below is a list of some of our 2023 Foundation grants.
12PLUS is supporting students as they transition to postsecondary education. In 2023, the Camden City School District was able to hire a dedicated staff member to connect students to meaningful workforce development opportunities.
The Foundation provided the seed funding to launch Discovery Education’s Sustainability Education Coalition in partnership with the National Environmental Education Foundation. The coalition highlights the increasing need to educate more students on sustainability issues, especially in cities like Camden, where illegal dumping is having a consequential impact on life for residents.
Street Law’s Legal Life Skills program is helping teach Camden residents about how to navigate laws and excel in their careers. In partnership with Rutgers University, this program provides skills on how to interact positively with law enforcement, negotiate a lease, how to vote, how to open a bank account, and much more. In 2023, this program prepared 35 Camden residents and trained 40 educators in the area to continue teaching community members.
Subaru is committed to helping students prepare for employment in a wide array of industries, including the food service industry. Through the Cathedral Kitchen’s Culinary and Baking Arts Job Training program, students receive a combination of classroom and hands-on training. This program has helped almost 500 students since it was founded in 2018.
The Foundation funded the Pathways to Success Workforce Development initiatives to provide Camden residents with career readiness trainings and job-hunting support. In 2023, over 100 Camden residents participated in the initiative. Through this program, participants were able to access job readiness training, social services, employment connections with local employers, and career development opportunities to prepare for a successful future.
We continued our partnership with Girls Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on empowering more girls in early grade literacy, STEM, leadership and advocacy, and economic literacy. Subaru helped launch the program in Camden in 2021, and in 2023, 1,147 Camden girls participated in the Stronger, Smarter, Bolder program.
The Foundation worked closely with our longtime partner, Hopeworks, to provide tech skills education to youths in Camden. In 2023, we funded programming that helped connect young professionals to 108 paid roles throughout the Camden area.
The Foundation supported 20 scholarships for Cooper University workers through our partnership with Project LIFT. This opportunity helps prepare Camden residents to move into higher paying entry level medical roles at Cooper University Hospital. These positions include phlebotomists, electrocardiogram technicians, and critical care technicians.
The Foundation is providing trainings, mentorship, and academic grants to Camden teens through our partnership with the UrbanPromise Street Leader Program. In 2023, 15 graduates received paid employment opportunities with UrbanPromise to support younger children throughout Camden.
The Foundation continued funding the Subaru-U Scholarship for Automotive Excellence for the third year. This program supports six Camden residents annually with training as automotive technicians at Camden County College, made possible through our partnership with Rainbow PUSH. Subaru retailers provide scholarship recipients with mentorship, training, and guidance for gaining full-time employment opportunities in this space. The goal of this program is to support our hometown and help Camden residents accomplish their lifelong dreams and goals.
Trust for Public Land (TPL) seeks to provide cities with the joys and benefits of the outdoors and public spaces. The Foundation is working with TPL to help catalyze the renovation of parks in Camden. This has involved supporting the development of annual work plans for Camden Parks and Open Space Steering Committee member organizations, ensuring park stakeholders and programming partners support park stewardship and maintenance.
LUCY Outreach offers multilingual, culturally responsive services to Camden County youth and families of low income. The Foundation funded an alumni program to help ensure continued success after participants graduate high school. The program connects participants to post-secondary or job opportunities, along with resume and interview assistance.
The Foundation supports Camden County Habitat for Humanity (CCHFH), who provide affordable home ownership opportunities for low-income families. CCHFH are addressing the lack of affordable housing in the community through its Homeownership Program.
The Foundation funds the Camden Repertory Theater’s PACE education program, which works with at-risk middle and high school students to help place them on a path to graduation. The program further provides arts training, academic support, coaching, and assistance with college applications, and past program participants have the opportunity to serve as counselors. PACE has a 98% graduation rate among students who have earned $2.5 million in college scholarships.
The Foundation is supporting the Camden Fireworks Art in the Commons program, which aims to be the catalyst in making Camden a national example of how to create an equitable, sustainable, and eco-friendly public art program in an environmentally overburdened city. This involves collaborating with premier regional arts institutions and established artists to create a sustainable ecosystem of learning for emerging public artists.
The Foundation is supporting Joseph’s House’s Service Navigator Position, which provides wrap around services to help guests out of homelessness and put them on a path to employment. Services include action plans, securing personal identification, publicly available benefits, employment opportunities, and more. In 2023, Joseph’s Houses served more than 4,000 guests and administered over 10,500 case management sessions.
In 2023, the Foundation provided its second round of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging grants. Our Employee Resource Groups distributed $100,000 to causes close to their missions.
Supported the Latin American Economic Development Association: Women’s Business Center through a grant that provided resources to support women entrepreneurs and their impact on local and wider economies.
Out+Ally provided funds to PFLAG National. These funds helped establish 36 new PFLAG National chapters across the country and supported 17,000 individuals in workplace learning sessions.
Supported the Health Equity Fund for people who are underinsured, uninsured, and those who cannot safely utilize coverage. In 2023, the Mazzoni Center supported thousands of people.
Shoes for Your Soul is an organization focused on alleviating economic hardships by providing shoes and socks in Camden. In 2023, their support resulted in the distribution of more than 1,000 pairs of shoes and socks.
The Hispanic Family Center (HFC) provides the Camden community with a broad range of culturally relevant social service and advocacy programs. Through our support, HFC was able to support 5,780 clients in 2023.
Hire Heroes helps veterans and military spouses find employment, while also working with companies to hire and retain them. These funds supported the direct employment of 10 veterans and spouses.
HOPE provides comprehensive support programs for active service members, veterans, and military families focused on transition. These funds went to the Drive for Hope program, which assisted 29 veterans to outfit their vehicles based on their disabilities in 2023.
Evolve supported the Camden YMCA Soccer for Success® program, which works with school officials, parents, and communities to create a safe environment where kids can be active. The end of the program cumulated in a celebration at the Camden mini pitch along with the Philadelphia Union.
