Archived News

3/16/2005 - The Armstrong Foundation: 20 Years of Philanthropy

This year, the Armstrong Foundation celebrates its 20th year of giving. For two decades, the Foundation has endeavored to enhance the neighborhoods and strengthen the communities where employees live and work.

The Foundation was formed in 1985. Since then, it has overseen the donation of $23 million to community caring efforts. Today, Foundation philanthropy takes many forms and is largely allocated to the causes our employees are passionate about.

In May 2004, Jan Biagio was named Foundation coordinator, continuing the good works and caring efforts Armstrong employees have provided to worthwhile causes, both monetarily and with their time.

Through the Foundation’s Gift Matching Program, U.S. regular full-time and regular part-time employees and expatriates are eligible to expand their contributions of volunteer time or money to various charities and qualified organizations. Click here for the volunteer match guidelines and monetary match guidelines or to see the Foundation site on www.armstrongfoundation.com. The site offers an easy online match request form.

In addition, the Company will match gifts from employees to four-year colleges and universities through the Higher Education Gift Matching Program.

The Foundation also provides emergency support to members of the Armstrong community in crises, and this objective was put to work after Hurricane Ivan hit two of our plant communities last fall in Pensacola, Fla. and Mobile, Ala. And when disaster struck on December 26 with the tsunami in Asia, our employees helped the victims, many choosing to use the Foundation’s gift matching program to make their donations count even more.

The U.S. Plant Discretionary Grant enables plant managers to submit grant requests to the Foundation on behalf of qualified 501 (c)(3) organizations. The grants are aimed at supporting organizations and communities that are important to Armstrong employees.

“Over $800,000 of the Foundation’s $1.5 million annual budget is given each year to communities where our employees live and work through local United Way agencies and 501 (c)(3) organizations designated by the U.S. plant managers,” says Biagio. “If there is an organization important to you, contact your plant manager or HR manager to speak to them about directing their plant discretionary funds to your favorite organization.”

(Employees are encouraged to check the Foundation site regularly for the latest program information. For answers to any questions about the Armstrong Foundation, please call Jan Biagio, the Armstrong Foundation coordinator at 717-396-2416.)