Volunteering

Solving the world’s toughest challenges requires everyone to play their part and AbbVie is passionate about collaborating with others to do more in local communities.

Week of Possibilities

The Week of Possibilities initiative is the company’s signature annual volunteering and community support programme. In 2019, it involved more than 9,000 employees in 50+ countries coming together to make a difference in their respective communities around the world.

Locally, AbbVie joined forces with the national volunteer development agency Volunteer Ireland to implement Week of Possibilities projects in three communities where the company has a major presence.

Employees from AbbVie’s five sites in Cork, Dublin and Sligo joined forces to undertake work that helped transform science education.

In total more than 250 AbbVie employees volunteered 1,200+ hours across a single week to help make a remarkable impact for students of St Mary’s High School, Midleton, Cork; Holy Cross College, Finglas, west Dublin; and Ballinode Community College, Sligo.

This project was judged to be the best CSR programme by any pharmaceutical company in Ireland at the 2016 Pharma Industry Awards.

AbbVie’s approach to our partnership—and its
relationships with community partners—demonstrates what’s possible when
corporate volunteers come together to work on projects that provide real value
in the community.

Nina Arwitz, CEO, Volunteer Ireland

A Week of Achievements

AbbVie in Ireland’s volunteering efforts were recently captured in a video presentation. The video features contributions from AbbVie employees in Cork, Dublin and Sligo as they revisited projects from the previous year’s Week of Possibilities initiative. Children who were residents of Sophia House in Dublin also feature in the video and had the opportunity to shadow the international film crew during the week-long shoot. Sophia is a homeless initiative supported by all AbbVie sites in Ireland.

Watch the video below.

We are extremely grateful to be chosen by AbbVie for their global volunteer week activity. We are not in a position to fund the refurbishment of our science lab ourselves, and it’s a real lift for our students and teachers to come into an environment that will enhance teaching and learning.

Speaking about the positive impact of the Week of Possibilities
Derek Lynch, Principal, New Cross College, Dublin

The All for One AbbVie Cycle Challenge

During the summer of 2019, dozens of cyclists from across AbbVie’s sites in Ireland, as well as employees from the US, took to the road for the annual AbbVie Cycle Challenge. Their goal was to raise much-needed funds for North West Hospice in Sligo and Marymount Hospice in Cork.

To date, more than 250 AbbVie cyclists have travelled approximately 2,250 km for worthy charities, raising more than €150,000

_{Participants in the AbbVie All For One Cycle Challenge.}