In Our Community

Discovery employees distributing backpacks Woman posing with a dog

Giving Back at the Local Level

Throughout the world, Discovery and its employees undertake a wide range of initiatives focused on making a positive impact in the local communities where we live and work. Both on an individual level and collectively through employee resource groups, such as the Multicultural Alliance, Women’s Leadership Network, Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Alliance, and the Discovery Veterans Group, Discovery employees volunteer in schools, provide assistance to in-need individuals, promote HIV/AIDS and environmental awareness, and support local community organizations and causes.

Some examples of the ways in which Discovery employees make an impact in their local communities include:

  • Local backpack and schools supply drives around the world
  • First-time filmmaker initiatives in Vietnam
  • Adopt-a-unit and homeless vets initiatives for service men and women in the U.S.
  • Job fairs for local college and university students
  • Prom dress collections for women in New Orleans
  • Projects to bring power to communities in Africa
  • Holiday adopt-a-family and warm coat initiatives
  • Elementary school reading programs
  • Food delivery programs
  • Disaster relief fundraising
  • Meeting spaces for local community groups
  • Earth Day and Earth Month projects
  • Clothing drives
  • Cell phone collections

Discovery Gets Packing

In 2008, Discovery Communications started Discovery Gets Packing: It's What's Inside That Counts, a company-wide effort led by Human Resources. Now in its fourth year, Discovery Gets Packing aims to supply over 2,000 elementary and primary school students in London, Miami, New York and Silver Spring with Hub-branded backpacks filled with many of the supplies they need to begin the new school year. In London, the backpacks are made from recycled network billboard advertisements that were redesigned, cut and sewn into unique backpacks.

Discovery generously covers the cost for the backpacks while employees around the world graciously make donations in increments of $10 or more to cover the cost of the supply kits. All of the backpack supplies are purchased from Rite Quality Office Supplies, Discovery's long-time business partner and choice vendor for office supplies in Maryland and Virginia. Delivery services for the schools in Maryland are provided by Moving Masters, another long-term partner to Discovery.

When the backpacks are delivered to students late in August and early in September, the Discovery Gets Packing initiative will have provided backpacks to over 10,000 students in four years.

Discovery Impact: Creating Change

Discovery Impact: Creating Change is Discovery Communications' pro-bono creative initiative, utilizing the power of our employee workforce to fulfill design, marketing and communications work on behalf of local nonprofit organizations.

During this 12-hour marathon, Discovery employees fulfill work that includes but is not limited to: social media training, event conception, promotional materials, websites, pamphlets, logos, PSAs, press kits and mission statements.

Creating Change took place this year on November 9, 2011. This event featured over 200 Discovery employees donating nearly 3,000 hours of work to fulfill creative requests from 24 selected organizations. Additionally, representatives from 70 nonprofits participated in the Creating Change Conference, a companion event to the marathon, featuring one-on-one sessions with Discovery executives, seminars,workshops and roundtable discussions. To see pictures from this year's event, please click here.

Discover Your Impact Day

"Discover Your Impact Day is Discovery's global day of employee volunteerism taking place each year in June. Started in 2010 to celebrate Discovery's 25th Anniversary, Impact Day brings the Discovery family into their local communities to give back to organizations that support land, water and people, and underscores our commitment to the people and places of the world that inspire our on-air stories.

Discover Your Impact Day 2011 took place on June 17 and featured:

  • 3,000 employees from 40 offices worldwide.
  • Participation of 75% of global employees.
  • Volunteers worked at over 140 projects.
  • Site visits from some of DCI's on-air talent, including Ariel Tweto from Discovery Channel's Flying Wild Alaska and Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne from TLC's DC Cupcakes.
  • Staff who could not leave the office created cards for the NIH Children's Inn and Operation Write Home. Employees crafted over 1,000 homemade cards for sick children and our troops overseas. They also created colorful blankets to send in care packages.
  • Globally, employees from every project uploaded photos and video to the Impact Day Flickr account. To date more than 1,139 photos have been uploaded. To view our photos click here.


Discovery Impact: Rebuilding Alabama

More than 125 Discovery Communications' employees and on-air talent from across the U.S., including Reed Timmer and Tim Samaras of Discovery Channel's Storm Chasers, the Duggar family of 19 Kids and Counting on TLC, and Dave Salmoni of Animal Planet, traveled tornado-ravaged communities in Alabama from September 22-24 to work with Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity on major home rebuilds and rehabilitations for affected residents of the Pleasant Grove, Jasper and Center Point suburbs of Birmingham.To view photos from our trip click here.