Amgen Employees Making a Difference on Land and Sea: 20 Years of Coastal Cleanup

While Amgen employees typically find themselves deeply immersed in getting medicines to seriously ill patients, time is also made to volunteer for immersions of a different kind-ones that help support local communities.

Enter International Coastal Cleanup. This year, Amgen celebrates 20 years of participation in this community activity.

What began as a single site event has grown into a multi-facility tradition that unites staff, families and communities in caring for the environment. It's just one example of Amgen's efforts to give and act locally in the communities where the company has a footprint.

So far, Amgen teams have organized nearly 20 cleanup events-with more still on the way. Hundreds of employees rolled up their sleeves this year starting at Amgen's headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California. Efforts also included remote staff participation in places like Oregon and Colorado (where a freshwater cleanup took place). And as far south as the Florida Keys a cleanup event is also in the works.

At Port Hueneme Beach, near Amgen's headquarters Southern California, 189 volunteers collected an impressive 1,000 pounds of waste. The September 6 event highlighted the power of collaboration, and the impact Amgen staff can make when they come together.

Through opportunities like International Coastal Cleanup, U.S.-based staff also have the opportunity to register their volunteer hours through Dollars for Doers, an Amgen Foundation program that matches donations to volunteer hours. Just one example: Staff volunteer hours translated to nearly $5,000 in donations for the Ocean Conservation Society.

For two decades, Amgen's commitment to sustainability and the environment has been reflected in this annual tradition. Each cleanup is about more than trash collected-it's about building community, living the Amgen Values and leaving the world a better place.

Check out the video above to see more about Amgen's coastal cleanup efforts this year.