Pfizer actively supports many worthy causes in the community across Ireland. Help has been extended to local groups, healthcare professionals, schools, clubs, charities, medical research and arts associations. Some examples of the type of initiatives we are involved in are listed below:
One of Pfizer’s major fundraising activities is the Annual Pfizer Cycle for Chernobyl. Pfizer colleagues and other amateur cyclists annually make their way to Galway from Cork in an effort to raise funds for the Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI).
The Pfizer Cycle for Chernobyl has funded numerous projects in the areas of Belarus that were affected by the nuclear fallout caused by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The fundraiser has enabled the building of day care centres in the Belarussian towns of Zhitkovitchi and Petrikov. It has also facilitated the purchase of three medical vehicles which are used in the Day Care Centres and other medical facilities in Belarus. The goal for the 2010 cycle is to finance the renovation of an adult mental institution in a town called Soltonovka in Eastern Belarus. There are plans to build therapeutic workshops (woodwork and sewing rooms, gymnasium and changing facilities, etc) and outdoor recreational facilities to improve the lives of people living in the town. The estimated cost of this renovation is €300,000 which will be funded completely by the proceeds generated from the cycling event.
Adi Roche, CEO of Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI), says; “The Pfizer Chernobyl Charity Cycle is now our biggest single source of fundraising. The recession has had a serious effect on charities with fewer funds being donated, but it is initiatives like this cycle, and the generosity of the people who participate, that keep us afloat. The support of the Pfizer Chernobyl Cycle over the past eight years has been invaluable and provides us with the resources needed to make a real difference.
In an effort to be both environmentally friendly and support disadvantaged groups, many of Pfizer’s businesses in Ireland have ceased sending Christmas cards. Instead each year colleagues nominate and choose a charity and a donation is made to the chosen group. In the past few years those who have benefited from this scheme have included, Focus Ireland, Age Action Ireland ALONE, and Saint Vincent DePaul.