Target 2007 Annual Report Download - page 16

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Uniquely Responsible
Target is committed to the pursuit of profitable and sustainable
growth, consistent with our unwavering dedication to the social,
environmental and economic well-being of the global community in
which our guests, team members and shareholders live and work.
This commitment reflects a conscious, company-wide dedication
to constant innovation and improvement in everything we do. We
strive to strengthen our communities by giving more than $3 million
each week and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours in
support of education, the arts and social services. We show respect
for our physical environment through the products we offer, the
facilities we build, the vendors we work with, and the resources
and materials we use.
We are committed to consistently delighting our guests, providing
a workplace that is preferred by our team members and investing
in the communities where we do business to improve the quality of
life. The team members in our stores reflect our local, diverse
communities, and the products on our shelves reflect the many
tastes, cultures and lifestyles of our guests. Our success as a national
retailer comes from strong local roots, and we are committed to
serving and celebrating our communities. Diversity has been one
of our strengths as a company and will continue to be an important
part of our business strategy as we expand into new markets.
Our environmental commitment extends from the products on
our shelves to partnerships with national environmental organizations.
Beyond ensuring compliance with all environmental regulations, we
work to understand our impact and continuously improve our business
practices. For example, in early 2008, Target launched reusable
shopping bags in all of our stores. In 2007, we were named as one
of the 32 participants in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Portfolio
Program pilot, a major step forward for our sustainability efforts.
Since 1946, we have contributed 5 percent of our income to
programs that serve our communities, which today equals more
than $3 million each week. As we grow, we continue to differentiate
ourselves through our commitment to 5 percent giving.
Signature programs include:
• Take Charge of Education, a school fundraising initiative that
has contributed more than $200 million to more than 108,000
schools across the country since its inception in 1997
• Target Field Trips, which fosters learning beyond the classroom
by awarding grants to 1,600 educators nationwide to cover
costs for a field trip related to their curriculum
• Book festivals, local grants for early childhood reading programs,
and partnerships with celebrity authors help raise awareness of
the importance of early childhood reading as a foundation for
lifelong learning
• Sponsorship of more than 1,500 free or reduced-admission days
annually at major cultural institutions across the country, such
as the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the California African American
Museum and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts in Washington, D.C.
• Disaster preparedness and relief through partnerships with
the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army and America’s
Second Harvest
• Target & BLUE, our innovative partnership with law enforcement,
reduces crime and builds safer communities through initiatives
such as National Night Out, and through shared resources and
expertise such as forensic analysis that assists law enforcement
agencies in investigations unrelated to Target
• Target House, which provides free long-term housing for families
whose children are receiving life-saving treatment at St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee
• Local grants through each of our stores that support local early
childhood reading, arts and family violence prevention programs,
and grants through our International Giving Program that help
create accessible, quality educational opportunities for children
worldwide
• Team members across the country regularly offer hands-on help
to more than 7,000 community projects, volunteering hundreds
of thousands of hours of their time and talent each year
Our commitment to social, environmental and economic responsibility
has been integral to our success as a company since we opened
our first Target store in 1962. And while our record of responsibility
is strong, we recognize that there is always more work that can
be done. As we grow, we will continue to find more ways to uniquely
deliver value to our guests, team members, shareholders and
communities for years to come.