17,000 AbbVie Volunteers Give Back in Global Service Week

Paper airplanes usually get students in trouble, but at Evelyn Alexander Elementary School in North Chicago, they were the highlight of the day. Dozens of AbbVie volunteers taught kids aeronautical engineering by helping them design, build, and launch paper planes at targets.

The activity was part of AbbVie's Week of Possibilities, an annual event where the pharmaceutical company gives its 57,000 employees paid time to volunteer in their communities. This year, 17,000 workers signed up for service projects spanning every continent except Antarctica.

Kelly Gallego, executive program director for North Chicago Community Partners, organized a STEM carnival with AbbVie volunteers. Students explored magnetic forces, tested their senses of taste and smell, and learned physics through games. Volunteers also assembled take-home kits so kids could become teachers for their families.

The demand to participate was so high that spots filled within minutes of posting. "If you're not quick enough, it fills up," said Giovanna Chandler, AbbVie's associate director for international public affairs. "A lot of people want to help their community."

While North Chicago students launched paper planes, AbbVie teams around the world tackled their own projects. Colleagues in New Jersey built furniture for schools. Workers in Dublin, Ireland cleaned beaches. Volunteers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, and Spain joined the effort.

In North Chicago, volunteers built two complete houses during the week for families needing affordable housing. The project partnered with ReNew Communities, an organization dedicated to revitalizing North Chicago. John Ravenaugh, ReNew's president, called AbbVie's support "amazing" and highlighted how the coalition approach strengthens the entire community.

Josh Walsh, AbbVie's head of global patient and community partnerships, worked alongside colleagues he usually only sees on video calls. "We're all working together to help our community," he said.

The Ripple Effect

The STEM kits going home with students extend learning far beyond one day. When kids teach their families how experiments work, science becomes a shared language across generations. The houses built this week will shelter families for decades, creating stability that transforms lives.

Since the program began, AbbVie has made community service central to its mission, particularly in Lake County where the company's global headquarters sits. The blue AbbVie t-shirts spotted across the region all week became symbols of neighbors helping neighbors.

Seventeen thousand people chose service over spreadsheets, and communities around the world are better for it.