Dedicated to putting the needs and well-being of those they serve first, Johnson & Johnson continually acts on the words in their Credo. As a loyal partner, employees at Johnson & Johnson (and their Family of Companies) have gotten active in 8 (and counting!) separate Workplace Activity Challenges.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
In May 2015, Johnson & Johnson asked Calorie Cloud (now Active For Good) to host an activity challenge for the attendees of the TEDxJNJ event in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As part of the event registration, Johnson & Johnson provided the attendees with a tracker, instructions on how to create an account & link it to their band, and asked participants to be active during the upcoming 3-day event. All calories burned would be converted to life-saving food for severely malnourished children.
During the second night of the event, TEDxJNJ organizers throttled enthusiasm by challenging the attendees to walk to dinner, a 35 minute/1.6 mile walk, versus taking the shuttle bus. The JNJ employees did not back down — a line of over 800 attendees snaked from the event location to Main St, Bethlehem, PA
To continue the great momentum ignited at the TEDxJNJ event, Johnson & Johnson extended the challenge beyond the event and participated in a 30-day activity challenge that began the day after the TEDx event ended. Ultimately, 704 employees got active to save 120 lives. Such a huge impact!
I heard it through the grapevine…
Following the TEDxJNJ challenge, word spread to various departments/JNJ subsidiary companies and 7 additional challenges were launched throughout the next year.
Greg Radick, with Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a JNJ Company), was one individual who heard about the concept, saw the close tie in to JNJ’s Credo & acted on it. To date, Greg has organized 2 activity challenges within Janssen, rallying over 850 employees to get Active for Good, donating 19 million calories to save 308+ lives.
When asked about his motivation & energy around launching repeated challenges, Greg stated, “It’s about truly living the JNJ Credo and giving back… [Active For Good] challenges just make good common sense. It’s a win-win situation that gives our employees an opportunity to live the Credo, get healthier, and to pay it forward!”
Going above & beyond
In April 2016, Johnson & Johnson went one step further and sent Steve Garguilo to East Africa with therapeutic food partner, MANA Nutrition, as a JNJ ambassador to see, first hand, the impact of Johnson & Johnson’s calorie donation. There, they visited clinics, spoke to doctors, met mothers and saw many of the healthy, happy children who have completed the 6-week therapeutic food program out of severe malnourishment.
Here is a link to a video overview of the trip put together by Mark Shenfield, a team member, that went on the trip with Steve.
Partnership Rocks
It’s catalytic partnerships like this one with Johnson & Johnson that make a difference in the world. JNJ’s dedication to their Credo & its close alignment to our mission & values results in a powerful partnership that saves lives. We love working with companies that care about going the distance, taking action and changing lives.
J&J Totals after 8 Activity Challenges
Get Involved
If you are interested in launching a Active For Good challenge at your workplace please reach out to us here to get started. We would love to help you launch a challenge & have all the resources to equip you to do that easily!