What it Takes to Be One of the World’s Most Admired Companies

160,000 hours

6,600 days

18 years

However you want to look at it, that’s how much time John Deere interns and full-time employees spent volunteering last year.

What does it look like to do so much good in so little time? Here’s a glimpse at a few ways John Deere interns alone are going well beyond their job descriptions to give back to the community. It’s easy to see why Fortune Magazine named John Deere one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.”

1. Packing Backpacks for a Great Cause

As part of the company’s annual intern conference, John Deere interns partnered with United Way to stuff backpacks with $4,000 in back-to-school supplies for local kids. Together, they packed 460 bags. Then the backpacks were delivered to area schools that needed them most.

2. Channeling Their Inner Camp Counselors

Twenty-nine John Deere Waterloo engineering interns worked together to develop a three-day STEM camp for kids at the Salvation Army and Boys and Girls Club. Throughout the camp, they worked with the kids to design, build, and test different project designs. They also ran a STEM school supply drive to help get the kids ready for the upcoming school year.

Alexa is one of the interns who helped plan this year’s STEM camp. This summer was actually her second time interning at John Deere, and she credits volunteering in 2016 as a big reason she returned. “Meeting the children and completing projects ranging from designing paper plane assembly lines to creating water filtration systems was my favorite part,” she says.

This summer, John Deere engineers in Ottumwa also volunteered at a local math and science summer camp for girls to teach them projects like building a kaleidoscope and making batteries out of lemons.

3. Helping Build Homes with Habitat for Humanity

About 25 interns in Des Moines teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes for families in need. During the event, most volunteers spent their time painting the inside of a house, while others worked on laying a laminate floor at another house.

Want to join a team that’s doing amazing work inside and outside the office? John Deere is hiring now for roles like their Environmental Engineering Development Program, so head over to John Deere and apply!