Merck finds fighting hunger sticks to its corporate ribs

on November 29, 2008 at 3:01 PM, updated November 29, 2008 at 3:08 PM

There are lots of problems in the world, and Merck is already working on some of them -- cancer, diabetes, HIV -- but during the past year, the company added a long-standing social issue to its list of causes. It's spending time and money to help fight hunger in communities across the United States.

Ellen Lambert, who helps decide where the giant drugmaker will direct its philanthropic efforts, recently explained why hunger became a target and shared some of her philosophy about corporate giving.

Why did Merck take up the problem of hunger?

Hunger is very complex. It's an issue that affects all of us. It affects our communities. It affects families of people who work at Merck. It affects families who live next door to people who work at Merck. It affects communities that we drive through on our way to work.

The first thing we did was look at the easiest ways to get involved, which are food drives and making donations to food banks. As we began to explore, we started to look at it as a much bigger issue. We looked at what hunger looks like in the United States, and it's so many things. It's not enough vegetables in a supermarket in your city. It's not enough fruit. It might be the husband and wife who don't heat their house because they have to feed themselves.

Everyone thinks it doesn't affect them, but look around the block. In May or June, we started to see a lot of articles about hunger and we talked to employees and this was an issue they wanted us to explore. Merck does things to support the hungry every year, food drives, small donations, but we decided we would look at it as a major issue after hearing Meals on Wheels was going bankrupt in a number of places.

It's a big issue now, and the economy makes it a much bigger issue, so we decided to look at it as an aspect of health and wellness.

We usually hear more about Merck's efforts against HIV and other diseases. Are there other things the company is working on in the same quiet way it has taken up its fight against hunger?

We're looking at a number of issues. Look at the number of underinsured and uninsured living in the U.S. We have very generous patient-assistance programs, but we're looking at, can we actually provide some other kinds of assistance.

If you look at wellness and quality of life and prevention, it isn't always just disease-specific. It can be just about stages of life when people might need more attention, parents taking care of both children and their parents, families that are stretched on both sides in terms of caregiving. I think we are looking at deeper, more complex social issues.

We're very lucky as a company. We have a foundation that is endowed and we can give money away. I think the company is very interested in doing it thoughtfully and doing it in a way that brings other partners in. We're not going to stop anything we're currently doing with HIV or diabetes, but I think we're going to look at some of the social issues that impact our communities.

How do you say no to a group asking for money?

Very fairly and very straightforward. We have specific areas that we give away money in, so first and foremost an organization's request has to fit into those areas. Second, because we do have an endowed foundation, we choose for the most part to solicit grants, so we don't accept grants that come in randomly.

We read them because there may be an idea out there that's terrific and deserves funding, but as a company, we really reach out to organizations we think we can help. With hunger, we read an article that Meals on Wheels was losing volunteers and not being able to feed folks who needed their services, and we reached out. It's helpful that we can be active in that way.

Is that what influenced Merck's decision to step up efforts against hunger, the difficulties at Meals on Wheels?

We were hearing a lot about food shortages. It was beginning to be summer and there was an article that in Philadelphia, 18,000 children would be giving up their meal a day because there are no subsidized lunches when they're not in school, and then we read about Meals on Wheels.

We made contributions to Meals and Wheels and a couple of food banks for the summer, one in New Jersey and one in Philadelphia. We're looking to do other things. Employees let us know that shelves were bare in certain food banks, so we actually made commitments. Every site in the U.S. (meaning the community where Merck has facilities) received some funding to make a contribution to one or two food banks.

From your perspective, why is philanthropy important for a company?

It's part of good citizenship. We reside here. We participate in the community. We pay taxes. We have to care as a group about everything that goes on. It's our city. It's our country. It's our world.

We make products for people, and we have to care about their well-being. I also think it's important because we all need to feel good about doing something. We all need to think we can make a difference. There was a point in time when philanthropy was a competitive issue for corporations. I don't think it's that way any longer. You see a lot of collaborations, and a lot of companies working with nonprofit groups and other corporations and non-government organizations because, you know, it is our world. Philanthropy does help to make it better.