Employee fund at Altria donates $2.45 million to Richmond nonprofits

The Altria Companies Employee Community Fund has awarded $2.45 million in grants to 88 Richmond nonprofit organizations.

The fund, established in 2000, receives contributions from employees of Richmond-based Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA. Altria makes an annual contribution to the fund and pays its administrative costs.

The fund’s areas of giving this year include domestic violence, emergency services, homelessness, hunger relief, senior services (including adults with disabilities) and youth services (including youth with disabilities).

About 3,500 workers, or two-thirds of eligible employees, contributed to the fund, making an average donation of more than $450, according to Jennifer Hunter, senior vice president, corporate affairs, Altria Client Services, who chairs the fund’s board of directors.

In addition to Richmond charities, the fund also awarded grants to nonprofits in other communities where Altria operates, including 14 grants totaling $125,000 in Illinois; seven grants totaling $55,000 in Kentucky; 16 grants totaling $220,000 in Pennsylvania; and 17 grants totaling $250,000 in Tennessee.

During the past 14 years, the fund has awarded 1,594 grants totaling $43.1 million to nonprofits.

The fund is the only employee-managed, workplace-giving program that is publicly reported among U.S. companies, according to the organization Changing Our World.