COMMUNITY Interface’s commitment to sustainability finds many of its roots in socially-focused programs that reach deeply into the company.  We pride ourselves in not only sustaining the company, but also in supporting families and our local communities. Interface actively seeks ways to incorporate more family time into employee's schedules, as well as ways to transfer the company's ideas and knowledge about sustainability into people's everyday lives. Interface Environmental Foundation, Inc. Armed with the proceeds of his book Mid-Course Correction, and the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment, Ray Anderson and Mike Bertolucci created the Interface Environmental Foundation as means of supporting the work of those individuals who are struggling to initiate various environmental projects within the community. The foundation's mission is to inspire and financially support the creation of the next industrial revolution and to ensure a sustainable society. Its goals include the adoption of sustainability strategies by business and industry and the creation of the prototypical model of the sustainable industrial enterprise. Awards and honorariums from speaking engagements are the primary source of funding for the Interface Environmental Foundation. Inquiries regarding the foundation should be sent to: info@interfacesustainability.com Environmental Education Grants The Interface Environmental Education Grant program is the primary focus of the Interface Environmental Foundation at this time. The grant program allows Interface employees worldwide to identify environmentally-focused education programs and to sponsor the instructors who are offering them. During the 2005-06 school year, Interface will reach more than   4,800 children. Since 1999, the Interface Environmental Foundation has contributed nearly $125,000 USD directly to environmental education, influencing over 23,000 students in the communities where Interface employees live and work. For a listing of the 2005-06 grant recipients, please click here. Bentley Prince Street Associates Work Together to Restore Griffith Park Hills. On Saturday, February 4th, 2006, Bentley Prince Street participated in the Griffith Park Native Tree Planting in Griffith Park Hills, CA. Eleven Bentley Prince Street volunteers and their family members contributed 92 volunteer hours planting 24 California native trees during a half-day event sponsored by TreePeople. Click here to read the story. InterfaceFLOR Commercial - USA Partnered with Salvation Army To Provide Holiday Gifts for Area Families in Need InterfaceFLOR Commercial partnered with the Salvation Army of Troup County again in 2005 to provide Christmas gifts for families in need. Interface associates adopted 50 “angels”, providing assistance to 21 families in need. InterfaceFLOR Commercial Hosts Luncheon for West Georgia Health Care System Committee InterfaceFLOR Commercial (IFC) recently hosted a roundtable discussion comprised of industry leaders from LaGrange, Georgia to discuss major developments planned for West Georgia Health System in the years ahead. “These changes will have a significant impact on our community’s ability to continue offering quality health care and will ultimately affect our employees and their families in the future,” said IFC President David Hobbs. Jerry Fulks, CEO at West Georgia Health System, was on hand to update the group on the recent creation of a foundation for West Georgia Health System and shared plans for a number of proposed improvements for the Health System, including a new emergency care facility. Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts Interface associates raised $71,896 for the American Red Cross, matched with $30,000 from Interface for a total of $101,896. Many Interface associates also engaged in Iocal initiatives to help provide basic supplies and services for refugees. Bentley Prince Street’s Cases for Care Program Focuses on Relief for Hurricane Katrina Victims Case for Care is becoming a staple of Bentley Prince Street’s volunteer and sustainability efforts. With the recent disaster of Hurricane Katrina, it was only fitting to sponsor a “cases for care” drive so large it would take various shifts and assembly lines to create. Click here to read the story. Tsunami Relief – 2004-05 In 2004-05 Interface encouraged its associates worldwide to contribute to those organizations that assisted with the Tsunami Relief effort. The corporation pledged to match the employee contributions up to $30,000. The result was a $78,000 pledge divided among four key organizations offering assistance to the disaster victims. Click here to read more. DASH InterfaceFLOR Commercial (LaGrange, GA) is partnering with a local nonprofit corporation called DASH for LaGrange Inc. (Dependable Affordable, Sustainable H ousing), to address economic disparities that have caused the City of LaGrange to rank 20% below the national average in home ownership. Currently 53% of residents in LaGrange, GA rent their homes. Through a partnership with DASH, Interface has offered up to $100,000 of down payment assistance, matching the associates’ down payments 2 to 1 (up to a maximum of $6,000 per home) for DASH homes in the Hillside community. DASH then matches the Interface contribution with additional funds for the associates’ down payments. In addition to the down payment program, Interface is also donating carpet for the homes and a new initiative is being put into place to provide volunteer opportunities for Interface associates to assist with tutoring programs in an after-school program for DASH residents. Click here to read more. CARPETree™ InterfaceFLOR Commercial (IFC) Brazil has contracted with Florestas do Futuro (Forests of the Future) to create CARPETree™, a reforestation program funded by Interface to help restore five key river basins in The Atlantic Forest as identified by SOS Mata Atlântica and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). IFC Brazil will fund the planting of one tree in the Atlantic Forest for every 25 square meters of commercial carpet products sold; an initiative that could involve the planting of thousands of trees per year. Click here to read more. Ho`okupu Trust In May 1997, Interface held its first ever Worldwide Sales Meeting on Maui. Interface, its vendors, customers and associates from around the world convened for ten days of intense focus on the corporation's sustainability mission and the effects that it would have on the business going forward. Deeply touched by the beauty of Maui, and the strong sense of native culture, yet shockingly aware of the impacts that the tourism business had on the island and its native people, Interface's stakeholders sprung into action to create a lasting legacy for "tomorrow's children" on Maui. The meeting attendees made personal financial pledges to fund a program that would become known as the Ho`okupu Trust, meaning "a fresh seedling sprouting from the volcanic soil." The mission of the Trust was developed from several small group meetings between Interface associates and Maui natives, including Kupuna (elders) and Keiki (youth). The trust was created from funds designated by Interface, and an overwhelming response from the meeting attendees who made voluntary pledges of $100 each, totaling $110,000. DuPont provided matching funds ($50,000) as well. A total of $250,000 was made available for the trust which is now managed and allocated by The Hawai`i Community Foundation and Environment Hawai`i. In 2003, $25,000 was awarded to the Alliance for the Heritage of East Maui (AHEM); $25,080 was awarded to the Pu`u O Kali Dry Land Forest Restoration Project and $50,000 was awarded to the Kipahulu `Ohana – a Hana culture and language education center. Click here to read more. Bentley Prince Street Associates Participate in Clean up Project in Santa Fe Dam Area On Saturday, September, 24, 2005, eight Bentley Prince Street volunteers helped clean a one mile section of the shore surrounding a 70 acre lake in the Santa Fe Dam area. Trash and recyclables were picked up as part of Public Land Day, a national initiative focused on cleaning up public areas. Click here to read more. Corporate Associates Participate in River Clean-up Eighteen Interface associates, family members and friends gathered in April 2005 for a Chattahoochee River Clean-up project sponsored by the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper (UCR) and the National Park Service. Click here to read more. Corporate Employees Participate in Summer Lunch Program Sixteen associates from Interface joined hands in July, 2005 to assemble 300 sack lunches for children in the Cobb and Cherokee county suburbs of Northwest Atlanta, as part of a summer-long program provided by MUST Ministries (Ministries United for Service and Training). Click here to read more. The project has evolved into a monthly food donation program called “MUST Eat” benefiting the MUST Food Pantry. Bentley Prince Street Associates Clean Up Canyon In June, 2005, Bentley Prince Street participated in the 30th annual Super Canyon Sweep in San Gabriel Valley, California. On Saturday, June 11, 2005, Bentley Prince Street participated in the 30th annual Super Canyon Sweep in San Gabriel Valley, California. Click here to read more. Employee Legacy Award Program – Planting Trees for the Future Interface employees in the U.S. now have the option of having trees planted to celebrate their years of service with the company, in lieu of traditional service awards like watches, pen sets and plaques. Click here to read more. Interface’s Cool Co2mmute™ Program Several Interface facilities have initiated voluntary programs to offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with employee commutes, to and from work. Click here to read more.