Lilly Sends Employees to Serve in Vulnerable Communities around the World

First Connecting Hearts Abroad volunteers leave this month to help people in need in Thailand, Peru and Tanzania; more teams deploy later this year

Marcio Donatelli, a senior marketing associate with the animal health division of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), believes his volunteer work in a healthcare setting in Bangkok, Thailand, will be among the most humbling experiences of his life. “Caring for people in need with respect and dignity is the guiding star for me and my fellow volunteers,” shares the Indiana-based Elanco employee in a LillyPad blog.

Donatelli and Lilly colleagues from Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Ukraine and the United States began their volunteer work in Thailand last week. They are the first team of ambassadors to deploy in 2015 for two-week service assignments in vulnerable communities across the world through Connecting Hearts Abroad, Lilly’s global employee volunteer program. Two more teams of ambassadors will leave at the end of May to volunteer in Lima, Peru and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Seven teams will depart later this year for assignments in Brazil, Guatemala, India, South Africa and Tanzania—including four global health sites where the Lilly NCD Partnership is working to improve diabetes outcomes in lower-income communities.

About Connecting Hearts Abroad
Each year, Lilly sends at least 100 employees from its operations worldwide to volunteer in communities that often lack access to basic resources, including quality health care. Through this program, ambassadors have the opportunity to see the world through a different lens—and to share their experiences with colleagues to help Lilly become a better, more globally aware company.

Nearly 800 Lilly ambassadors from 58 countries have devoted 56,000 hours of volunteer service through Connecting Hearts Abroad since the program began in 2011.

“Connecting Hearts Abroad is a highly sought-after opportunity among our employees, typically generating more than 1,000 applications each year,” said Rob Smith, president of the Lilly Foundation. “Many employees join Lilly because of our promise to make life better. This unique program allows them to live out that promise in very powerful ways and, ultimately, helps Lilly better understand and meet the diverse needs of people around the world.”

Learn more about Connecting Hearts Abroad, the Lilly NCD Partnership, and Lilly Corporate Responsibility through these multimedia resources:
Facebook Photo Album: Meet the Faces of Connecting Hearts Abroad 2015
Video: Connecting Hearts Abroad

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels. CR-LLY

Refer to:    David Marbaugh; marbaugh@lilly.com; (317) 489-7109