NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- KPMG's "Service in Remembrance" nationwide employee volunteer campaign – commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 – is actively underway with thousands of KPMG people participating at 227 non-profit organizations.

The U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm's partners and employees also had the option of volunteering at the non-profit of their choice, and more than 100 additional organizations are benefiting as a result.

"We look forward to being a part of something extraordinary, as the KPMG family proudly joins millions of Americans in support of the National Day of Service," said KPMG LLP Chairman and CEO John Veihmeyer.

All members of KPMG's U.S. firm have been provided with "volunteer time off" for participation in 9/11 anniversary service projects, in addition to the 12 hours of volunteer time KPMG grants each person annually.  

KPMG Volunteers at 200 Non-Profits

KPMG will be leading significant volunteer initiatives for non-profits across the country.  

• In Chicago, for example, some 300 firm partners and employees will lift the spirits and minds of the students of Phoebe Hearst Elementary in Chicago by creating 17 in-classroom libraries, overhauling the school's unused library, creating a student garden and giving three books to each of the students to take home to read, among other initiatives.
• Members of the Houston office sponsored a letter-writing campaign on behalf of "A Million Thanks," the year-round campaign to show our appreciation for our U.S. Military Men and Women for their sacrifices, dedication, and service to our country through our letters, emails, and cards delivered to our troops. KPMG people set up a station in their building's lobby where they encouraged all tenants and visitors to write a thank you letter to our service men and women.
• In Washington, D.C., nearly 70 KPMG people attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.  The event included the presentation of a mock check for $100,000 to the Pentagon Memorial Fund, representing the amount donated to the fund by KPMG and its Washington, D.C.-area employees over the past six years.  
• Members of KPMG's Seattle office are helping to prepare and serve lunches at Operation Sack Lunch, a non-profit that provides meals and basic necessities for un-housed and food insecure children, women, and men.
• In Charlotte, over three dozen KPMG professionals paid tribute by helping the F.F. Steven Coakley Foundation create "Flags in Remembrance" at the Palmer Building, an annual memorial to those killed on 9/11, which includes placing over 3,000 flags in the shape of the World Trade Center. Additionally, KPMG Charlotte volunteers read and provided homework help to children at the Bethlehem Center, a non-profit organization working with low-income children and families.
• More than 100 volunteers in New York plan to visit PS 161 in Harlem for a book reading and to hand out books to the children, as part of the firm's Families for Literacy program. In addition, more than 100 volunteers will be taking part in a job and mentoring workshop at the YWCA in Brooklyn and the YWCA in New York.

"Our firm has a rich history of volunteerism in our communities, and our efforts to commemorate 9/11 will build upon that strong record," said KPMG Deputy Chairman and COO Henry Keizer.  

KPMG Supports 9/11 Flag Tour

Through grassroots fundraising efforts and firm contributions, KPMG has given more than $1 million to help fund the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero in New York and contributed to the Pentagon Memorial. Additionally, KPMG is a national corporate partner of the New York Says Thank You Foundation's National 9/11 Flag Tour, a grassroots restoration and nationwide display of The National 9/11 Flag, the tattered flag rescued from Ground Zero.

On Sept. 9, 30 KPMG employees are headed to Joplin, Missouri, to take part in the flag tour's final 10th anniversary commemoration, which pays tribute to the people impacted by tornado devastation in May.  Before the flag occupies its permanent home in the 9/11 Memorial, hundreds of KPMG partners and employees will have joined local service heroes at 36 locations nationwide to donate time and support to restore the torn and tattered flag rescued from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.  

KPMG Volunteer Outreach

Beyond KPMG's 9/11 program, the firm's employees are generous in giving their time to hundreds of other organizations through the firm's "Involve" volunteer program. In 2010, KPMG partners and employees donated 151,000 hours of community service.

Of note, thousands of its employees and their family members and friends have volunteered to read to children as part of the firm's Family for Literacy program, a core focus of KPMG's corporate responsibility agenda.    

"'Service in Remembrance' and the personal engagement of our people are examples of KPMG's core values and our understanding of the crucial relationship between businesses and society in creating a sustainable future," said Kathy Hannan, KPMG national managing partner, diversity and corporate responsibility.

The firm also recently announced that it has teamed with The National Academy Foundation in a move to strengthen high school accounting education at NAF's Academies of Finance nationwide.  

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.us.kpmg.com), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International").  KPMG International's member firms have 138,000 professionals, including more than 7,900 partners, in 150 countries.

SOURCE KPMG LLP