• by Tanya Gazdik , July 6, 2021

American Honda is extending its annual weeklong service initiative to three months to offer additional opportunities for community service while the pandemic winds down.

Throughout the summer, 158 dealers and 94 suppliers will join Honda throughout North America in performing more than 360 service projects in their own local communities through virtual and in-person activities.

Team Honda Week of Service is an annual event that began in 2016 to encourage community service projects and highlight the important work of local community organizations throughout North America. 

The event coincides with the founding of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., the first Honda company established in America, on June 11, 1959.

The automaker publicizes Team Honda philanthropic efforts on social media using the hashtag #TeamHondaCares.

This year’s effort includes a virtual food drive to restock food pantries hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic via the online platform YouGiveGoods.com. Visitors to the site can select from a list of several food banks and view each organization’s most-needed items. To encourage support to support for local community organizations, Honda is matching the first $20,000 in donations.

Addressing food insecurity has been one of Honda’s key focus areas throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and it remains a crisis in many communities across America, said Yvette Hunsicker, vice president of the corporate social responsibility division for American Honda Motor Co. 

Other projects range from blood drives, to food packing, to beautification efforts for local communities. 

Virtual events are also planned, focusing on environmental education programs, CPR safety and other community needs.

Since its inception in 2016, more than 2,000 service projects have been completed during Team Honda Week of Service.