Malvern, PA - Siemens Healthcare (www.siemens.com/healthcare) made significant contributions to the US communities where it operates, pledging over $740,000 this holiday season as part of its annual giving campaign for organizations and charities throughout the US through volunteer opportunities, employee contributions, and matching company donations. Of that amount, $231,141 resulted from first-time donors and those who increased their contributions from 2007. The money raised is part of an annual drive by the company to give back to the community and support those in need.

Many Siemens Healthcare employees nationwide volunteer year-round through various organizations. Each fall the Siemens Caring Hands Committee, the company-sponsored, employee-led group that oversees the company's annual US giving campaign, coordinates an effort to involve employees in a wide selection of pre-planned volunteer activities occurring near its Siemens Healthcare business unit locations.

The goal of the campaign, which ran from September 15 though November 21, was to secure annual pledges for the Siemens Caring Hands Foundation and United Way agencies across the country that rely on support to provide health and human services to those in need. Any Siemens employee could participate in this campaign and the company matches 30 percent of every dollar employees donate.
"The employees of Siemens Healthcare are proud to once again be the number one contributor to our local United Way program," said Roselle Charlier, VP of Corporate Communications for Siemens Healthcare in the US and volunteer board member of the United Way of Chester County. "We recognize that tough times are particularly challenging for those with less, and appreciate the opportunity to partner with the United Way and Siemens Caring Hands Foundation to make a difference in the communities in which we live and work."

This year, employees had a myriad of worthwhile causes to choose from. Highlights included:

* A September employee food drive for PhilAbundance, a local nonprofit organization fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley, that resulted in over 30 boxes of food being delivered to the charity.
* October Days of Caring saw 189 employees volunteer over 1,300 hours for specific activities ranging from painting a local daycare center, to landscaping at a nature sanctuary, to chaperoning handicapped adults on a field trip, for United Way-supported agencies in the community.

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