(September 7, 2012) DETROIT — Some 4,250 General Motors employees nationwide will take on 110 community service projects – from building houses to cleaning up rivers to bagging and distributing groceries — as part of the first teamGM Cares volunteer week from Sept.10-15.

The participation in community service projects across America is expected to become an annual event to reinforce GM’s commitment to employee volunteerism and to highlight the importance of service. Employees are doing most of the volunteering during normal working hours.

“This is the first of many opportunities we will create to demonstrate our commitment to giving back and to showing our communities that we care,” GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson told employees recently. “We’re going to make it as easy as possible for our teamGM Cares Volunteers to help those in need.”

Volunteers from across General Motors’ various business functions and locations will participate in a variety of projects during the week, and throughout the month, including:

TeamGM Cares volunteer Tamera Jackson and her husband, Adam Ferraro, pick green beans for Forgotten Harvest in Detroit to distribute to those in need.

    • Building new houses and cleaning up neighborhoods with Habitat for Humanity in Detroit and Warren, Mich.
    • Cleaning up the banks of Wild Cat Creek in Kokomo, Ind.
    • Collecting canned goods for City Harvest food bank in New York City.
     Collecting school supplies for high schools in Toledo, Ohio
     Bagging and distributing groceries to residents in low-income housing within Ventura County, Calif., and its surrounding communities.Constructing a demo home for Food for the Poor in South Florida
    • Painting a building at Wyandotte County Park in Kansas City, Kan.
    • Cleaning up John Williams Boulevard as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program in Bedford, Ind.

“Our volunteer efforts are the way that we say thank you to the communities that host our business operations,” said Cadillac Marketing Manager Sabin Blake, head of the teamGM Cares volunteer organization. “Our program is getting stronger because the need in our communities is greater than ever. We are determined to make a difference.”

General Motors’ teamGM Cares brings GM employees together with nonprofits about which they are passionate. Since January 2011, teamGM Cares volunteers have contributed an estimated 16,500 hours of volunteer work. For every 50 hours a GM employee volunteers per year at an eligible nonprofit, the GM Foundation provides that organization with a $200 grant.